A class on etiquette might be met with disinterest, a yawn, or even a scoff. But only by those who have not heard Kathleen D. Pagana, RN, PhD, speak on the subject.

"I think 'etiquette' can sound really stuffy," says Pagana, president of Pagana Keynotes & Presentations and a professor emeritus at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa. But she likes to make people laugh. Nurses who read her book, "The Nurse's Etiquette Advantage," admit to chuckling out loud as they flip through pages in coffee shops.

Pagana makes the topic fun by engaging her audience. She works the room, looking for a decent handshake. She makes the topic relevant by referring to situations most people have been in, but perhaps without realizing their actions left an impression. For nurses who use e-mail, this session will reveal common practices that might be considered unprofessional.

She wrote the book after teaching a business etiquette course at a national company, where she was teaching presentation skills. "I realized that business etiquette was the missing link between [nursing] education and professionalism in the workplace," she says. "Other professions teach this; nursing doesn't."