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Manual of Conscious Sedation: A Manual for Nurses
Book Reviews Manual of Conscious Sedation: A Manual for Nurses
Critical Care Nursing: Diagnosis and Management, 3rd edn
chapter on detailed ‘nursing intervention classifications’. These are examples of identifiable patient problems, such as mechanical ventilation, along with the research-based interventions required to tackle them. The authors encourage readers to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to make nursing diagnoses and management strategies. For example, the chapter on invasive haemodynamic monitoring includes patient diagnoses and causes, interpretation of associated clinical findings, haemodynamic profiles, treatment and expected responses, trouble-shooting guides and clear diagrams. The chapters are complemented with relevant pharmacology and medications, therapeutic management plans, patient education information, protocols and comprehensive references. The book is accessible to junior and critical care course nurses, yet still provides advanced information for more experienced nurses. Learning is enhanced by frequent cross-links to other relevant chapters, copious case studies, published research abstracts and the availability of instructors’ manuals and multimedia aids. A few areas of nursing care, such as the section on intra-aortic balloon pumps, are less detailed than comparable texts. However, this appears to be the only drawback. Overall this book is highly recommended for unit libraries and critical care nurses, particularly those undertaking specialist practice courses, who want a text which addresses today’s nursing issues as well as the future. Myrna Scott MSc, BSc, RGN, ENB 100 998 Critical Care Nursing Research Assistant City University, St Bartholomew’s School of Nursing & Midwifery London, UK
By Lynne A. Thelan, Linda D. Urden, Mary E. Lough and Kathleen M. Stacy Mosby Inc., St Louis, MI, 1998, £42.00, 1220 pages
Short Practice of Anaesthesia
By Michael Kost MSN, CRNA WB Saunders, Philadelphia, 1997, 21.95, 346 pp Conscious sedation includes all patients undergoing procedures which require an ability to maintain their own airway and respond appropriately to physical and verbal stimuli. The scope of such procedures is rapidly expanding with the increase in minimally invasive surgery and sophisticated diagnostic procedures. The text is directed towards the US Registered Nurse practising either as a nurse anaesthetist or anaesthetic/recovery nurse. The text draws on legal guidelines, and offers guidelines for auditing clinical competencies and establishing an educational training programme – all of which could prove useful to the UK practitioner within this field. For the intensive care nurse, this manual is most useful, however, for its clinical content. Key areas such as airway management, resuscitation, pharmacokinetics, and patient monitoring are described succinctly and illuminated by the use of excellent diagrams throughout. The book is designed as a manual to use as a quick reference guide. It succeeds because the large volume of information it contains is well laid out and easy to access. For the practitioner in the field of conscious sedation, it is of excellent value. For the intensive care nurses, it would prove a useful addition to the unit library. Pat Smedley MSc, RGN, ENB 100
This excellent and stimulating textbook uses an ‘eye’ illustration throughout to symbolize the ‘“vision” that critical care nurses embody every day in their profession’. It focuses clearly on the future of practice through nurse-led assessment, diagnosis and management. The authors promote a holistic and multidisciplinary approach towards the needs of patients and relatives. The third edition includes new sections on co-ordination of critical care, pain and sedation, perianaesthesia and special populations including paediatric patients in adult units, obstetrics, and care of the elderly. The latter is particularly pertinent to all adult critical care areas. The book has a wide variety of high level contributors including clinical nurse specialists, researchers and outcome management consultants. This US text equates well with British moves towards evidence-based practice and clinical effectiveness. In addition, the book advocates the use of case management, critical pathways and algorithms to guide care. Importantly, the recent Audit Commission Report on critical care services in England and Wales (1999) identified these as suitable methods for improving consistency of care in ITU. The American emphasis on nursing diagnosis is made very accessible to British readers by basing each
330
Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
(2000) 16, 330–331
Edited by Maldwyn Morgan & George Hall Edward Arnold, London, 1995, £75.00 (HB), 831 pp Global changes in healthcare have seen an increase in the specialization of both medicine and nursing. In terms of reference material and books, this has manifested itself in a move away from ‘generic’ texts to much more specialized books individual to particular systems or sub-specialties. This is particularly evident in anaesthesia, where there are few general textbooks available. They are criticized for being too brief and not detailed enough for the purposes of postgraduate examination in anaesthesia. There are few good UK texts for nurses working in anaesthetics and recovery who often have to rely on medical textbooks for information. Unwittingly, Morgan and Hall have produced a fine textbook for those nurses starting out in anaesthetics and recovery, or are studying for ENB 183 at degree or diploma level. They have made a bold attempt to write a generic text that is, in some parts, exceptionally detailed. The individually written chapters have been well edited to provide continuity, in an authoritative style. The chapters are referenced exclusively from medical sources, with clear diagrams and tables throughout. There are some chapters that are sparsely populated with photographs when this style of
© 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
Book reviews
presentation would have added to the clarity of the explanations. The section on Post Anaesthetic Recovery is disappointing and is only salvaged by two interesting and pragmatic chapters on Pain & Post Operative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV), and Fluid Therapy. There is little reference to the psychological impact of recovery and alternative methods for management of Pain & PONV, but this is not unusual for a text written from a medical perspective and certainly does not detract from the chapter.
© 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
Generally, the book is of use as a reference source and would be a welcome addition to any nursing library. It is one of the better ‘generic’ anaesthesia texts on the market and may have a place in a theatre unit for day-to-day referencing. However, the cost (£75) and limited scope for experienced practitioners would preclude it from individual purchase. Mark Radford BSc, RGN, ENB 183 Vice Chairman, British Anaesthetic & Recovery Nurses Association; Editor, British Journal of Anaesthetic & Recovery Nursing
Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
(2000) 16, 330–331
331
Critical Care Nursing: Diagnosis and Management, 3rd edn
chapter on detailed ‘nursing intervention classifications’. These are examples of identifiable patient problems, such as mechanical ventilation, along with the research-based interventions required to tackle them. The authors encourage readers to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to make nursing diagnoses and management strategies. For example, the chapter on invasive haemodynamic monitoring includes patient diagnoses and causes, interpretation of associated clinical findings, haemodynamic profiles, treatment and expected responses, trouble-shooting guides and clear diagrams. The chapters are complemented with relevant pharmacology and medications, therapeutic management plans, patient education information, protocols and comprehensive references. The book is accessible to junior and critical care course nurses, yet still provides advanced information for more experienced nurses. Learning is enhanced by frequent cross-links to other relevant chapters, copious case studies, published research abstracts and the availability of instructors’ manuals and multimedia aids. A few areas of nursing care, such as the section on intra-aortic balloon pumps, are less detailed than comparable texts. However, this appears to be the only drawback. Overall this book is highly recommended for unit libraries and critical care nurses, particularly those undertaking specialist practice courses, who want a text which addresses today’s nursing issues as well as the future. Myrna Scott MSc, BSc, RGN, ENB 100 998 Critical Care Nursing Research Assistant City University, St Bartholomew’s School of Nursing & Midwifery London, UK
By Lynne A. Thelan, Linda D. Urden, Mary E. Lough and Kathleen M. Stacy Mosby Inc., St Louis, MI, 1998, £42.00, 1220 pages
Short Practice of Anaesthesia
By Michael Kost MSN, CRNA WB Saunders, Philadelphia, 1997, 21.95, 346 pp Conscious sedation includes all patients undergoing procedures which require an ability to maintain their own airway and respond appropriately to physical and verbal stimuli. The scope of such procedures is rapidly expanding with the increase in minimally invasive surgery and sophisticated diagnostic procedures. The text is directed towards the US Registered Nurse practising either as a nurse anaesthetist or anaesthetic/recovery nurse. The text draws on legal guidelines, and offers guidelines for auditing clinical competencies and establishing an educational training programme – all of which could prove useful to the UK practitioner within this field. For the intensive care nurse, this manual is most useful, however, for its clinical content. Key areas such as airway management, resuscitation, pharmacokinetics, and patient monitoring are described succinctly and illuminated by the use of excellent diagrams throughout. The book is designed as a manual to use as a quick reference guide. It succeeds because the large volume of information it contains is well laid out and easy to access. For the practitioner in the field of conscious sedation, it is of excellent value. For the intensive care nurses, it would prove a useful addition to the unit library. Pat Smedley MSc, RGN, ENB 100
This excellent and stimulating textbook uses an ‘eye’ illustration throughout to symbolize the ‘“vision” that critical care nurses embody every day in their profession’. It focuses clearly on the future of practice through nurse-led assessment, diagnosis and management. The authors promote a holistic and multidisciplinary approach towards the needs of patients and relatives. The third edition includes new sections on co-ordination of critical care, pain and sedation, perianaesthesia and special populations including paediatric patients in adult units, obstetrics, and care of the elderly. The latter is particularly pertinent to all adult critical care areas. The book has a wide variety of high level contributors including clinical nurse specialists, researchers and outcome management consultants. This US text equates well with British moves towards evidence-based practice and clinical effectiveness. In addition, the book advocates the use of case management, critical pathways and algorithms to guide care. Importantly, the recent Audit Commission Report on critical care services in England and Wales (1999) identified these as suitable methods for improving consistency of care in ITU. The American emphasis on nursing diagnosis is made very accessible to British readers by basing each
330
Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
(2000) 16, 330–331
Edited by Maldwyn Morgan & George Hall Edward Arnold, London, 1995, £75.00 (HB), 831 pp Global changes in healthcare have seen an increase in the specialization of both medicine and nursing. In terms of reference material and books, this has manifested itself in a move away from ‘generic’ texts to much more specialized books individual to particular systems or sub-specialties. This is particularly evident in anaesthesia, where there are few general textbooks available. They are criticized for being too brief and not detailed enough for the purposes of postgraduate examination in anaesthesia. There are few good UK texts for nurses working in anaesthetics and recovery who often have to rely on medical textbooks for information. Unwittingly, Morgan and Hall have produced a fine textbook for those nurses starting out in anaesthetics and recovery, or are studying for ENB 183 at degree or diploma level. They have made a bold attempt to write a generic text that is, in some parts, exceptionally detailed. The individually written chapters have been well edited to provide continuity, in an authoritative style. The chapters are referenced exclusively from medical sources, with clear diagrams and tables throughout. There are some chapters that are sparsely populated with photographs when this style of
© 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
Book reviews
presentation would have added to the clarity of the explanations. The section on Post Anaesthetic Recovery is disappointing and is only salvaged by two interesting and pragmatic chapters on Pain & Post Operative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV), and Fluid Therapy. There is little reference to the psychological impact of recovery and alternative methods for management of Pain & PONV, but this is not unusual for a text written from a medical perspective and certainly does not detract from the chapter.
© 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd
Generally, the book is of use as a reference source and would be a welcome addition to any nursing library. It is one of the better ‘generic’ anaesthesia texts on the market and may have a place in a theatre unit for day-to-day referencing. However, the cost (£75) and limited scope for experienced practitioners would preclude it from individual purchase. Mark Radford BSc, RGN, ENB 183 Vice Chairman, British Anaesthetic & Recovery Nurses Association; Editor, British Journal of Anaesthetic & Recovery Nursing
Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
(2000) 16, 330–331
331