The first definitive volume on social support from a nursing perspective, Integrating Social Support in Nursing analyzes current theories and concepts and documents nursing's contribution to the field. While confronting current conceptual controversies and negative impacts of social support, Stewart emphasizes the need for nurses to intervene with social support at the individual, dyadic, and group levels; the need for nursing education to respond to the challenge of integrating social support theory into the curriculum; and the need for research strategies designed to clarify social support issues such as gender as a predictor of social support. The author also demonstrates the necessity for a social support based framework and proposes a conceptual model incorporating environment, nursing, health, and focal persons. Integrating Social Support in Nursing is essential reading for nurse clinicians, educators, students, and researchers who see the need to shift from a medical to psychosocial model of health care delivery that views clients as partners and families as allies. The greatest strength of this book is its connecting research to actual application. A variety of insightful research and previous literature are covered in great detail. . . . This book presents an excellent background on social support and leaves the reader wanting more information, in order to implement appropriate 'supportive' interventions. --Choice Stewart's book makes an important contribution to the nursing profession. It integrates the vast interdisciplinary social support literature into the theoretical dimensions that underpin contemporary nursing research and practice. This book will provide a common baseline for nurse clinicians, educators, students, researchers, and theoreticians as they seek to incorporate a concept that has unique relevance to nursing. --Jane S. Norbeck, R.N., D.N.S.c., F.A.A.N., Professor and Dean, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco [This book] embeds social support in nursing theory and enriches the pedagogy and training of nurses, while enlarging the conceptual framework that guides their practice. --Human Resources Abstracts