Dorrie K. Fontaine’s book “Essentials of Critical Care Nursing: A Holistic Approach” has been selected to receive the 2013 Capstone International Nursing Book Award from Sigma Theta Tau International, the world’s oldest nursing honor society.

Fontaine, dean of the University of Virginia School of Nursing and the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of Nursing since 2008, co-wrote the 2012 textbook with Patricia Morton, the new dean at the University of Utah College of Nursing and a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow. Both authors will be honored in November at Sigma Theta Tau’s 42nd biennial convention in Indianapolis, expected to draw 2,000 colleagues from 30 countries.

“Essentials of Critical Care Nursing,” published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, focuses on the most common disorders and technologies encountered by a critical care nurse today. It aims to assist students in understanding the pathophysiological basis for illness and the strategies the critical care nurse uses in assessing and managing patients. The text contains information about important psychosocial concepts, legal and ethical issues, history and physical examinations and key laboratory and diagnostic tests, as well as key nursing interventions used in critical care.

Sigma Theta Tau International is the world’s largest nursing honor society. More than 130,000 active members reside in 85 countries around the world. U.Va.’s Beta Kappa chapter – the oldest chapter in Virginia, with more than 500 members – is one of 488 chapters around the world.