Johnson, Spencer. (1998). Who Moved

Johnson, Spencer. (1998). Who moved my cheese? New York: Putnam.

According to the author of Who moved my cheese, humans can learn a great deal from the animal community about coping with change. Human beings invest a strong sense of ego in the physical and symbolic trappings of success. According to the parable that frames the tale, while the mice of the book simply look at cheese as a form of sustenance, human beings place a great deal of importance upon the appearance of cheese, and the status and placement of cheese. The mice's attitude of nonattachment makes them better able to cope with change in a unified fashion. When the humans see they have no more cheese, they instead blame one another, and search for the same, rather than new cheese. The mice, named Sniff and Scurry, already have a contingency plan in place to deal with the absence of cheese. The small, mice-sized humans named Hem and Haw, who are equally dependent upon cheese, blame one another, and keep looking in the same place. But the old cheese is gone, and Sniff and Scurry, by leaving their initial comfort zones, successfully are able to locate another supply, while Hem and Haw struggle.

The moral of the book is not to fear change. In fact, the greatest danger is not to change at all, not change itself: "If You Do Not Change, You Can Become Extinct" is the most important lesson of the book. Acceptance, anticipation, monitoring, swift adaptation, implementation, and enjoyment of change -- as well as the ability to enjoy the changes that will occur in the future are essential in all business environments. These lessons are particularly relevant for healthcare workers, who must be flexible in the face of regulatory changes of the industry, and the swift pace of technological changes in pharmacology, treatment procedures, and screening for illnesses. People may want to cling to the past because they felt that they were 'good' at the old ways -- the old standard operating procedures, methods, and 'cheese' that defined them in the organization. But looking backward hampers both organizational and individual success.

Article review:

Suliman, Wafika a. (2009). Leadership styles of nurse managers in a multinational environment.

Nursing Admin Quarterly, 33 (4) 301 -- 309

Retention of high-quality nursing staff is an equally critical component of addressing the nursing shortage as hiring newly-qualified nurses. Nursing leadership can have a significant impact upon retention, satisfaction, and even nurses' perception of their exhaustion. The study "Leadership styles of nurse managers in a multinational environment" attempted to understand what leadership styles had a positive and a negative impact upon nurses' desires to stay within the organization and function effectively. To answer this research question, the study examined a nursing environment in Saudi Arabia, a nation with a patient population that is notably diverse that has a notable shortage of nurses, forcing healthcare institutions to rely upon expatriates as a source of labor (Suliman, 2009: 301). Given the importance of culturally-specific dialogue and care in nursing, this can prove challenging. Effective leadership that facilitates dialogue between providers and patients and between managers and employees within the nursing environment is a critical aspect of dispensing effective care.