Catatan

This extraordinary book by nurses at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH)
epitomizes this quotation. Led by Chief Nursing Officer Mairead Hickey, the

Department of Nursing embarked upon a transformational journey that has re-
shaped professional nursing practice and, in the process, has elevated patient care

to a new level. Since its inception, BWH and its founding institutions, the Boston
Lying In, Peter Bent Brigham, and Robert Bent Brigham Hospitals, have been
known for their quality of care and spirit of innovation. BWH is consistently ranked

among America’s top hospitals. Yet as Dr. Hickey notes, the early 1990s was a diffi-
cult time for nursing in the organization. The introduction of a service line approach

separated nurses from each other. The administrative structure (with the chief nurse

officer reporting to the chief operating officer) weakened nursing’s voice. Role con-
fusion among nursing leaders created uncertainty, and tensions existed around

collective bargaining. During this period, I visited the organization and felt excep-
tionally sad that things could not be different.