Positive Deviance (PD) is an approach to social change that enables communities and organizations to discover the wisdom they already have, and then to act on it. The premise of PD is that in every community there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon practices or strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than neighbors and peers who have access to the same resources. PD is led by people in the community who help identify and spread the successful practices. Ideas for change are more likely to be accepted and adopted when they are based on existing local wisdom than they are when outside exports try to impose them. This book tells the remarkable story of how a people-centered approach to organizational and social change, accompanied by sound scientific and technical expertise, yielded positive quality outcomes for ordinary citizens, health care institutions and their patients, and society in general. This work draws upon the collective wisdom and experience of infection control practitioners, doctors, public health authorities, nurses, social and organizational change practitioners, health care administrators, patients and front line workers. Additional benefits of use of the PD process to fight infection turned out to be improved workplace relationships, healthier and more resilient organizational cultures, and expanded networks of people in many fields and geographical locations who shared ideas, resources and the inspiration of their own contributions to saving lives. "The Positive Deviance movement is changing the landscape of how we achieve transformation and change in systems." Peter Block, Author, Community: The Structure of Belonging. "Inviting Everyone....chronicles the astonishing achievements possible when people truly work together and are aided by pioneering processes like Positive Deviance." Nicholas Wolter, MD, CEO, Billings Clinic. Contact info@plexusinstitute, org for volume discounts.

This book presents the first comprehensive examination of issues important to nursing from the perspective of Complexity Science. In this groundbreaking volume, scholars and nurse leaders explore key Complexity Science principles and the profound implications they hold for clinical practice, leadership, nursing theory development, research, policy making, and understanding human physiology. Nursing students, practicing nurses, nurse educators, leaders, researchers, and other healthcare professionals will find great value in the fresh insights Complexity Science brings to challenges facing nursing today. Changes in the practice of nursing, emerging new roles, as well as heightened emphasis on healthcare quality present both risk and opportunity. Nurses who understand the emerging science of complexity will be better prepared to creatively face these issues and improve health in broad and lasting new ways. For volume discounts contact info@plexusinstitute or call 609-298-2140.

This publication is the first book to address complexity science in health care. It represents a revolutionary new way for health care leaders to think about how they engage employees, work with physicians, manage unmanageably complex tasks and plan for an uncertain future. But it's not for health care workers only - this book is useful to anyone interested in how complexity science is changing not only business management, but also how many disciplines of science relate to one another. Complexity science reframes our view of many systems that are only partially understood by traditional scientific methods. Systems as apparently diverse as stock markets, human bodies, ecosystems, immune systems, termite colonies and hospitals seem to share some patterns of behavior. These patterns provide insights into sustainability, viability, and innovation.