Interpreting Cardiac Arrhythmias: A Basic Guide

Interpreting Cardiac Arrhythmias: A Basic Guide. McFarland, Mary Brambilla. Springer Publishing Co, 200 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10003,1976, 119 pp, $5.25 paperback. Simplicity is the key to this book. Initially, anatomy and physiology of the heart are reviewed with structure, conduction, and electrophysiology included in brief and clear form. The reader is then introduced to the electrocardiogram (ECG) through description of the leads and paper. Normal ECG patterns are presented with each of the six wave deflections illustrated by diagrams. Recognition and interpretation of cardiac arrhythmias are clearly and briefly discussed with examples presented in diagram as well as rhythm strip form. The final chapter deals with development, uses, and types of pacemakers, as well as care of the patient with a pacemaker. This section can be of special interest to the operating room nurse. Completing the text are questions and rhythm strips for use in self-testing. A reading list and a glossary of terms are also included. Excellent for the nursing student learning about cardiac arrhythmias, this book also is a valuable reference for the OR nurse as a review or orientation to ECGs and their interpretation. Susan Brunke, RN Omaha Nursing Assessment and Health Promotion Through the Life Span. Murray, Ruth, Zentner, Judith. Prentice-Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, 1975, 344 pp, $18.95.

This book and its companion, Nursing Concepts for Health Promotion, integrate information essential for nursing practice in any setting. They present the premise that it is necessary to understand the total health 01 the person and family before one can understand the ill person and his family. 1132

Emphasis is placed on assessment and health promotion in the nine stages of development from birth through death. In each of the stages, the authors cover family development and relationships, physiological and psychosocial concepts, and usually the nursing implications. Diseases, their treatment and specific manual techniques, are only generally referred to. References are listed at the end of each chapter. With the exception of death being considered as the last developmental stage, there is not much that is new in this book. It is the format and the presentation of the material that makes it a good reference for all nursing units. Slster Kane, RHSJ, RN, YEd Cornwall, Ontario Professlonal Obligations and Approaches to the Aged. Schwartz, Arthur, Mensh, Ivan, eds. Charles C Thomas, 301-327 E Lawrence Ave, Springfield, 111 62717, 1974, 360 pp, $15.95. With the number of senior citizens in proportion to the total population increasing each year, all health care facilities that provide services to the elderly should be aware of the problems faced by the aged. This book gives an overview of these problems and society’s challenge to do something about them. A review of the aging process and the influence of social factors on the aged is followed by explanations for the need for comprehensive mental health care for the aged, the influence of environment, death and dying, and retirement income adequacy. Community strategies, continuing education for the later years, and therapeutic intervention in marital and family problems of aging persons also are reviewed. Sister Kane, RHSJ, RN, MEd Cornwall, Ontario

AORN Journal, May 1976, Vol23, NO 6