American nursing is in real trouble. Schools are graduating nurses who are unprepared for the demands of an increasingly difficult patient care environment. With inadequate preparation and increased burden placed on mentors and supervisors, patient care is at risk. What is the cause of this dire situation and what can be done about it? In American Nursing and the Failed Dream: A Critical Assessment of Nursing Education in America, retired Department of Veterans Affairs Chief Nurse June M Harrington describes a misguided and ineffectual educational process for nurses. While many blame the shortage of nurses on hospital administrators, nursing administrators and doctors, Harrington points to the attitudes of the nursing leadership and failure of nursing schools to provide the level of education necessary for graduates to enter the fast-changing world of the hospital. A must read for anyone concerned about the state of nursing in America.