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The staff nurse's survival guide
Intensive Care Manual (3rd edition) T E Oh (ed) Butterworths Pty Limited, Australia, 700 pages, Price E27.95 This book is intended for more experienced practitioners and is designed for easy access to comprehensive information on intensive care. The use of double column format accounts, in part, for the staggering amount of information which has been packed into 700 pages. It is an exhaustive study, the 16 parts containing 100 chapters cover the complete gamut of intensive care. Each chapter contains a comprehensive reference list which would be of obvious benefit to students and researchers alike. The new chapters included in this third edition reflect the increasing diversity of problems that persons of all ages may now pose for intensive care practitioners, because of scientific and technological advancement in the provision of intensive therapy. The book would be of particular interest to medical practitioners responsible for the day-to-day management of critically ill persons. The clinical presentations and treatments of a vast array of very serious and/or life threatening conditions are extensively covered in specific detail. The text is concise and easy to read. It is not the intention of the authors to address nursing care needs of the critically ill. Nevertheless, experienced intensive nursing care practitioners will undoubtedly benefit from the use of this manual for teaching and learning purposes, both for themselves and for guiding junior nursing and medical personnel. Importantly, information concerning the immediate management of certain crisis situations is essential reading for nurses and doctors alike, in intensive care or in any department which is likely to receive persons with life-threatening problems. The authors of this book have achieved their aim to supply the most up-to-date information on the delivery of intensive care and it is essential reading for a!? experienced medical or nursing practitioner provldmg such care. GERALDINE M C MURRAY RGN, RSCN, RN, RCN’P
Problem-Oriented Pediatric Diagnosis Roger M Barkin, MD, MPH Little, Brown and Co., Boston ISBN 0 316 08104 3, 306 pages. Price 59.95 This manual is aimed at American medical staff, consequently some of the terminology is unfamiliar and some of the procedures described are alien to British nurses. The emphasis of the text is on the diagnosis of problems in paediatrics and, as such, no attempt is made to discuss management strategies which may be used to resolve the identified problems.
‘rhe manual is divided into sections based on organ systems, and subdivided into chapters focusing on particular problems of each system. Each problem is considered in terms of its aetiology and subsequently an appropriate diagnostic approach is outlined. Each chapter contains a bibliography, but sadly not all the references would be readily accessible in this country. It is gratifying to note that the manual begins with a brief review of the normal growth and development of children before focusing on the problems of illness. However, even in this initial chapter the differences between American and British practice are evident. The description of ‘routine’ visits to the doctor and recommended immunization schedules may be appropriate for the USA but not applicable to the LJK. The appendices contain some useful information such as growth curves, but information related to paediatric drugs does not cross the Atlantic well. The parental instruction guides to problems routinely seen in children are a good idea, provided they are viewed as baseline guidance only and not a substitute fat seeking medical care. Pictorial representation would enhance the section on rashes. The manual would benefit from the addition of a glossary of terminology and abbreviations. This manual is intended to be a handy reference tool for clinicians and it may be useful to paediatric nurses as a quick reference text. but its value is limited in terms of comprehensive ill-depth information. It is doubtful whether the spiral bound format would be able to stand up to frequent use. Kc I'HH CHADWICK RGN, RSCN, FFI‘C
The St&f Nurse’s Survival Guide The Professional Development Series. Austen Cornish Publishers Ltd, 1990, ISBN 1870 065 13 122 1 pages. Price X7.50 This is a collection of articles which were first published in The Professiomal Nurse. The book covers a wide range of topics and is divided into five sections with forty-one chapters. The sections are Professional Development, Issues in Patient Care, Clinical Management, Legal Aspects of Nursing and Looking After Yourself. The subjects covered in these sections encompass issues in patient care such as Counselling, Bereavement and the Needs of the Patient’s Family - 1 found this section informative and very helpful. A very useful chapter on preventing Stress BuildUp, is included in the section entitled Looking After Yourself, which outlines very clearly the strategies for coping with stress. Included in the other chapters are broad ranging subjects such as Infection Control, Nutrition, Wound Care and Catheter Management and also three
INTENSIVECARENURSING
excellent chapters on the Assessment and Psychological Aspects of Pain. Unfortunately the Legal Aspects of Nursing Section contains a lot of legal ‘jargon’, the content appearing irrelevant to theclinical setting, and I found it to be the least useful. The other sections are written in a clear and concise manner with good use of Figures and Tables. At the end of each chapter there is a list of references and bibliography, and the precise Index can be easily used as a reference. I found this book to be compulsive reading and recommend it as essential reading to all newly qualified staff nurses, and also as a good reference book for staff nurses working for many years. HELENA ANNE MCDONALD RGN
Effective
Communications The Professional Development Series. Austen Cornish Publishers Ltd, 1990, ISBN 1 870 06514X ?? pages. Price f6.95 ‘The Professional of a number of chapters dealing with essential aspects of communication for the health professional. Ample bibliography is given at the end of each chapter. The first section on Communication Skills discusses how empathy can be developed by listening. The value of Group Facilitation is underlined, whereby the nurse can facilitate group discussion on case conferences and teaching sessions. One of the chapters in this section also considers what qualities the health professional requires to encourage compliance of patients; the same section also refers to the standards which should be adhered to in the whole area of confidentiality. In two thought-provoking chapters of the book, Christine Eiser of the University of Exeter explores childrens’ attitudes to hospital admission and illness and suggests how we, as nurses, can minimise the trauma of their admission to hospital. School-based education programmes are advocated, and Dr Eiser makes an interesting reference to a play hospital which she helped to set up in a primary school in a town in Devon. Preliminary results suggest that those children who took part seemed to have acquired special hospital knowledge and a reduction of fear and anxiety. Because the nurse is not involved solely in dealing with illness, a further chapter rightly points out the importance of nurses having the ability to recognise opportunities for health education. In another three sections, the basic principles of counselling in nursing are adequately dealt with, and in the sensitive area of loss and bereavement, the problems of coping with the terminally ill and dilemmas faced by the relatives are well covered. The
This is a collection
of articles
from
Nurse Magazine’. Each section consists
213
importance of effective team work is carefully considered. The reviewer was particularly interested in the proposition of a novel theory that common core training for all health professionals should be devised. One of the concluding chapters in the book written by a Hospital Chaplain describes the harrowing experiences of hospital staff, mainly nursing personnel, in treating the victims of the Purley Train Disaster. These experiences were expressed to a support group set up immediately after the tragedy. A number of practical recommendations are suggested for hospital policy following such major disasters. It was reassuring to note that the principle of ‘Caring for the Carers’ was not overlooked. In a chapter dealing with the special needs of people with mental and physical handicap, the author emphasises the need for an awareness within the nursing profession about the whole concept of labelling, how it is used and what effect it has. Worthy consideration is given to the need to ensure self-esteem and diiity and to acknowledge the rights of the handicapptrd and disabled in the community. The concluding chapters touch on such diverse topics was the importance of informed consent, discrimination against AIDS patients and making value judgements about other peoples religious beliefs or lack of them. This is a very readable book and, in general, I found it both interesting and helpful. As a minor criticism I would have liked a chapter included on communication between staff at all levels. I would readily recommend the book to all grades of nursing staff but it should be of partiular value to student nurses. ATTRACTA FIORENTINI RGN
12 Lead ECC Interpetation: The SeIf-Assessment
APP-a W. B. Saunders&Company, Philadelphia 7216 2846X 304 pages. Price f 13.50
1989, ISBN
This is obviously a carefully compiled and logical presentation of a guide to electrocardiogram monitoring. The authors state that the reader is expected to have a basic understanding of cardiac arrythmias. This is to be developed sequentially throughout the book. The first three chapters examine the normal ECC and the various complexes and intervals, adopting a no-frills approach to accompany the text. The student with only a very basic knowledge of electrocardiograms may benefit from the inclusion of a glossary to explain some of the terminology used, as (in especially the first chapter) the content may seem daunting to the junior reader. The latter hald of the book deals with the abnormal ECG. Every chapter begins with a list of learning objectives or ‘cognitive goals’, followed by a concise
Problem-Oriented Pediatric Diagnosis Roger M Barkin, MD, MPH Little, Brown and Co., Boston ISBN 0 316 08104 3, 306 pages. Price 59.95 This manual is aimed at American medical staff, consequently some of the terminology is unfamiliar and some of the procedures described are alien to British nurses. The emphasis of the text is on the diagnosis of problems in paediatrics and, as such, no attempt is made to discuss management strategies which may be used to resolve the identified problems.
‘rhe manual is divided into sections based on organ systems, and subdivided into chapters focusing on particular problems of each system. Each problem is considered in terms of its aetiology and subsequently an appropriate diagnostic approach is outlined. Each chapter contains a bibliography, but sadly not all the references would be readily accessible in this country. It is gratifying to note that the manual begins with a brief review of the normal growth and development of children before focusing on the problems of illness. However, even in this initial chapter the differences between American and British practice are evident. The description of ‘routine’ visits to the doctor and recommended immunization schedules may be appropriate for the USA but not applicable to the LJK. The appendices contain some useful information such as growth curves, but information related to paediatric drugs does not cross the Atlantic well. The parental instruction guides to problems routinely seen in children are a good idea, provided they are viewed as baseline guidance only and not a substitute fat seeking medical care. Pictorial representation would enhance the section on rashes. The manual would benefit from the addition of a glossary of terminology and abbreviations. This manual is intended to be a handy reference tool for clinicians and it may be useful to paediatric nurses as a quick reference text. but its value is limited in terms of comprehensive ill-depth information. It is doubtful whether the spiral bound format would be able to stand up to frequent use. Kc I'HH CHADWICK RGN, RSCN, FFI‘C
The St&f Nurse’s Survival Guide The Professional Development Series. Austen Cornish Publishers Ltd, 1990, ISBN 1870 065 13 122 1 pages. Price X7.50 This is a collection of articles which were first published in The Professiomal Nurse. The book covers a wide range of topics and is divided into five sections with forty-one chapters. The sections are Professional Development, Issues in Patient Care, Clinical Management, Legal Aspects of Nursing and Looking After Yourself. The subjects covered in these sections encompass issues in patient care such as Counselling, Bereavement and the Needs of the Patient’s Family - 1 found this section informative and very helpful. A very useful chapter on preventing Stress BuildUp, is included in the section entitled Looking After Yourself, which outlines very clearly the strategies for coping with stress. Included in the other chapters are broad ranging subjects such as Infection Control, Nutrition, Wound Care and Catheter Management and also three
INTENSIVECARENURSING
excellent chapters on the Assessment and Psychological Aspects of Pain. Unfortunately the Legal Aspects of Nursing Section contains a lot of legal ‘jargon’, the content appearing irrelevant to theclinical setting, and I found it to be the least useful. The other sections are written in a clear and concise manner with good use of Figures and Tables. At the end of each chapter there is a list of references and bibliography, and the precise Index can be easily used as a reference. I found this book to be compulsive reading and recommend it as essential reading to all newly qualified staff nurses, and also as a good reference book for staff nurses working for many years. HELENA ANNE MCDONALD RGN
Effective
Communications The Professional Development Series. Austen Cornish Publishers Ltd, 1990, ISBN 1 870 06514X ?? pages. Price f6.95 ‘The Professional of a number of chapters dealing with essential aspects of communication for the health professional. Ample bibliography is given at the end of each chapter. The first section on Communication Skills discusses how empathy can be developed by listening. The value of Group Facilitation is underlined, whereby the nurse can facilitate group discussion on case conferences and teaching sessions. One of the chapters in this section also considers what qualities the health professional requires to encourage compliance of patients; the same section also refers to the standards which should be adhered to in the whole area of confidentiality. In two thought-provoking chapters of the book, Christine Eiser of the University of Exeter explores childrens’ attitudes to hospital admission and illness and suggests how we, as nurses, can minimise the trauma of their admission to hospital. School-based education programmes are advocated, and Dr Eiser makes an interesting reference to a play hospital which she helped to set up in a primary school in a town in Devon. Preliminary results suggest that those children who took part seemed to have acquired special hospital knowledge and a reduction of fear and anxiety. Because the nurse is not involved solely in dealing with illness, a further chapter rightly points out the importance of nurses having the ability to recognise opportunities for health education. In another three sections, the basic principles of counselling in nursing are adequately dealt with, and in the sensitive area of loss and bereavement, the problems of coping with the terminally ill and dilemmas faced by the relatives are well covered. The
This is a collection
of articles
from
Nurse Magazine’. Each section consists
213
importance of effective team work is carefully considered. The reviewer was particularly interested in the proposition of a novel theory that common core training for all health professionals should be devised. One of the concluding chapters in the book written by a Hospital Chaplain describes the harrowing experiences of hospital staff, mainly nursing personnel, in treating the victims of the Purley Train Disaster. These experiences were expressed to a support group set up immediately after the tragedy. A number of practical recommendations are suggested for hospital policy following such major disasters. It was reassuring to note that the principle of ‘Caring for the Carers’ was not overlooked. In a chapter dealing with the special needs of people with mental and physical handicap, the author emphasises the need for an awareness within the nursing profession about the whole concept of labelling, how it is used and what effect it has. Worthy consideration is given to the need to ensure self-esteem and diiity and to acknowledge the rights of the handicapptrd and disabled in the community. The concluding chapters touch on such diverse topics was the importance of informed consent, discrimination against AIDS patients and making value judgements about other peoples religious beliefs or lack of them. This is a very readable book and, in general, I found it both interesting and helpful. As a minor criticism I would have liked a chapter included on communication between staff at all levels. I would readily recommend the book to all grades of nursing staff but it should be of partiular value to student nurses. ATTRACTA FIORENTINI RGN
12 Lead ECC Interpetation: The SeIf-Assessment
APP-a W. B. Saunders&Company, Philadelphia 7216 2846X 304 pages. Price f 13.50
1989, ISBN
This is obviously a carefully compiled and logical presentation of a guide to electrocardiogram monitoring. The authors state that the reader is expected to have a basic understanding of cardiac arrythmias. This is to be developed sequentially throughout the book. The first three chapters examine the normal ECC and the various complexes and intervals, adopting a no-frills approach to accompany the text. The student with only a very basic knowledge of electrocardiograms may benefit from the inclusion of a glossary to explain some of the terminology used, as (in especially the first chapter) the content may seem daunting to the junior reader. The latter hald of the book deals with the abnormal ECG. Every chapter begins with a list of learning objectives or ‘cognitive goals’, followed by a concise