Informed Consent: A Guide for Health Care Providers

Informed Consent: A Guide for Health Care Providers. Arnold J Rosoff. Aspen Systems Corp, 1600 Research Blvd, Rockville, Md 20850, 1981, 520 pp, $37.50clothbound. The issues surrounding the patient’s right to information and to make his own decisions regarding health care have gained increased attention. Unfortunately, numerous lawsuits and a full-fledged patient’s rights movement were the means to reestablish this basic right of personal autonomy. Informed consent is an ethical issue of great magnitude for every health care professional, with legal ramifications that are sensitive and complex. Written primarily from a legal standpoint, this volume attempts to (1) set forth the law, (2) provide a philosophical framework, and (3) provide a foundation for researchingquestions of patient consent law. The author accomplishes this through detailed chapters with cases that illustrate the need for patient consent; hospital responsibility; dealings with minors, incompetents, and spouses; consent for special procedures; consent for medical experimentation and research; refusal of consent; and prbof of consent. There is state-by-state analysis of the legal requirements concerning disclosure of case and treatment information and the consent for treatment of minors. The book is well indexed by subject. Additionally, specific cases are indexed alphabetically and by procedure, problem, or issue. This assists the reader wishing to refer to selected topics. Approximately one-third of the book is devoted to the report of a survey conducted by the author in 1976-1977. The research project studied physicians’ attitudes and actions regarding the disclosure of case and treatment

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information to their patients and the reactions of patients to such disclosures. As is typical of survey research, the results of this study provide some baseline information. More importantly, it highlights a number of questions about informed consent that require further study by health care professionals. Although costly, this book presents invaluable informationon asubject that is particularly relevant to operating room nurses. Nurses working on quality assurance committees, dealing with offices of advocacy, or involved with medical or nursing research will find this book a most useful resource. Susan B Shipley, RN Editorial Board

Interpreting ECGs: An Advanced Self-test Guide. Ali Haddad, David C Dean, consulting editor. Medical Economics, Box 554, Oradell, NJ 07649, 1981, 149 pp. The author has written this as a supplementary workbook to test knowledge gained from the book How to Read an ECG by Blowers and Smith (Oradell, NJ: Medical Economics, 1977). It is a useful guide for testing knowledge of ECGs gained from other sources as well. As the title indicates, users of this workbook must have already masteredthe basics of arrythmia interpretationand be ready to apply the basics to interpreting more complex and less common arrhythmias. The material consists of 145 rhythm strips collected by the author in his cardiology practice. The strips demonstrate atrial, junctional, and ventricular arrhythmias, AV blocks, and pacemaker rhythms. Each rhythm strip is clearly reproduced and is marked with the lead and appropriate comments needed for in-

AORN Journal, September 1981,V o l 3 4 , No 3