The Nursing Assistant

For all shorter nurse assistant courses, especially those covering acute care (hospital) and nursing home (long-term  care) environments.

An actionable guide to whole-patient care, for the novice nursing assistant
The Nursing Assistant  fulfills the need for a brief, practical, and affordable guide to nursing assistance in today’s competitive health-care environment. This text is the foundation for any nursing assistant training program and applies equally to acute, subacute, or long-term care settings. Following the models of the nursing process, state curricula, and OBRA mandates, The Nursing Assistant provides 73 step-by-step procedures reflecting the tasks most commonly performed by nursing assistants. Reflecting the latest CDC, OSHA, and HIPAA guidelines, the 6th edition expands the discussion of patient-care goals and cultural awareness, and adds new person-centered case studies throughout.

In her more than 40 years of experience in health care, JoLynn Pulliam, RN, MS, NHSA, has held positions in clinical practice, hospital administration, and nursing management. She also served for several years as assistant to the corporate director of nursing at the corporate offices of the Sisters of Mercy Health Corporation, a multi-hospital system based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Early in her career, she taught maternity nursing and fundamentals of nursing classes in the baccalaureate nursing program at Madonna University, Livonia, Michigan. Her work has been published in the Journal of Nursing Administration. As a health-care consultant for risk management and quality improvement, she traveled nationally.

She has both authored and contributed to the publication of texts and workbooks for nursing assistants, functioned as a nursing education specialist for registered nurses and nursing assistants, worked full time as RN staff nurse on the Orthopedic Surgery Unit, and worked full time as nursing shift administrator at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan. JoLynn was also employed at St. Mary Mercy Hospital, a member of St. Joseph Mercy Health System, located in Livonia, Michigan, from 1998 to 2012. During the last seven years she was at St. Mary Mercy Hospital, she chose to work in the role she always enjoyed the most, staff nurse caring for patients on the Medical Cardiology Telemetry Unit. Because JoLynn also loved teaching, she also served concurrently as part-time adjunct clinical instructor for medical surgical undergraduate students at Madonna University. JoLynn relocated to Texas in late 2012. Her most recent employment was full-time nursing instructor at the University of Incarnate Word (UIW), in San Antonio. She continues to write textbooks for nurse assistant education, which she began in 1996.

Meg Holloway entered the health-care profession 30 years ago, starting her career as a nursing assistant. Working in long-term care and hospital settings was a tremendous foundation for her future professional nursing practice and opened her eyes to the privilege of providing hands-on, person-centered care. She has worked as an RN and then as an APRN in numerous clinical settings, from university hospital to county health department, and has cared for patients of all ages, from infants to the elderly. Her nursing practice has focused on women’s health, pediatrics, oncology, and community health. Central to her professional work is the belief that education has the power to transform lives.

Meg has taught community health education and support classes, mentored new health-care providers, developed staff volunteer training programs, and served as an instructor in high school and college health science classrooms. She has also worked as a contributing author and expert reviewer for medical terminology textbooks, developed career and technical training resources for health care students, and authored health science guidelines at the state level. She launched the Certified Nursing Assistant Program for Blue Valley CAPS, an innovative high school in Overland Park, Kansas, connecting students with authentic, professional learning, and she currently serves as lead instructor. Her passion is to educate and empower the next generation of health-care providers to practice with excellence and profound compassion. Connect with her on LinkedIn^®: meghollowayaprn.