Margaret M. Andrews and Joyceen S. Boyle, coauthors of Transcultural Concepts in Nursing Care, provide a comprehensive framework for providing culturally competent nursing care for individuals, families, groups, communities, and institutions. The book is divided into four parts: Part 1 introduces the theoretical foundations of TCN and cultural competence. Part 2 uses a developmental approach in providing culturally competent care across the life span from infancy to old age. Part 3 examines the application of transcultural concepts in selected settings. Part 4 critically analyzes contemporary TCN challenges related to nutrition, pain, religion, ethics, the multicultural health care workforce, and international nursing. Transcultural Concepts in Nursing Care has received the American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award and Sigma Theta Tau International’s Best Pick Award.

The recent increase in published work relating to the supervision of nurses and in particular mentorship suggests that nurses value the opportunities that such schemes present for developing practice. Much of the literature surrounding mentorship concerns the supervision of students in practice settings but more recently, especially following the changes to post-registration education, attention has shifted to the supervision of qualified nurses. Although the principles of supervision for students and qualified nurses are the same, differences do occur in supervisory practices. This review examines the literature associated with the supervision of student nurses and focuses on the nature and practice of mentorship in practice settings. The literature reveals that confusion exists regarding both the concept of mentorship and the role of the mentor. Many authors propose models or frameworks for mentoring activities. These tend to outline the stages of the mentoring process and the relationship between mentor and mentee. No one model is seen as more appropriate than another and choice usually depends upon the mentor's familiarity with a particular framework. It is also evident that there is inconsistency in the length and level of preparatory courses for mentors. As yet there is in the United Kingdom no national minimum requirement or common preparation route and in practice mentors are prepared by way of the appropriate National Board Teaching and Assessing module and/or short local 2-day course.

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Reflection is becoming widely recognized as an effective means by which nurses can develop their practice and is a prominent feature of both pre- and postregistration education programmes. More specifically, the UKCC directs that all nurses are required to keep a personal, professional profile, which means that they are obliged to engage in reflective activities. In order to develop practice, nurses must reflect on what they do and what they would want to do better. Reflection is a purposeful activity which is more than just a recall of events. Implicit within reflective activity is a need on the relector's part to change behaviour. The following article explores the concepts of expertise and reflection and suggests how one may relate to the other. Its purpose is to heighten awareness of the use of reflection for profile development and ultimately as a means of developing nursing practice.