Media Reviews

A Guide to Laboratory Investigations,3rd editionby Michael McGheeRadcliffe Medical Press, Oxford, 2000,163 pages, £17á95, ISBN 0 857 75357 7.

This slim volume, in its tenth year andthird edition at the time of review isclearly aimed at doctors. However, itsutility must extend to nurses. It includesinformation on what tests to carry out,which ones are essential and who mustbe informed in certain circumstances.With the advent of nurse consultants ±many of whom will be able to ordertheir own tests ± the target for this bookmust increase.

The book is presented in six chapterswhich organize the material aroundhaematology, microbiology, fertilityand pregnancy testing, rheumatology,biochemistry and miscellaneous. Themain text is preceded by an extensiveglossary of abbreviations and there is anindex. On the contents page, under thetitle of each chapter, there is a list of thetopics to be found in the chapter andthis facilitates rapid location of infor-mation under broad headings suchas anaemia, pregnancy tests or bloodsugar. Taking anaemia as an example,the relevant section in the text beginswith a short list of common causesunder the broad descriptions of anaemiaand this is followed by speci®c types ofanaemia and related tests with normalrange values. Otherwise, the logic forthe presentation of contents is not clearbut the layout makes it easy to ®ndinformation. The complete absence oftables or ®gures is disconcerting, espe-cially as the information lends itself sowell to this type of presentation. Also,the material is quite terse in places;the information that bananas interferewith laboratory results without furtherexplanation was amusing. I can see thisbook gracing the shelves of many GPsurgeries and ward of®ces.

Roger WatsonMedia Reviews Editor

Intelligence: A Very Short Introductionby Ian J. DearyOxford University Press, Oxford, 2001,132 pages, £5á99, ISBN 0 192 89321 1.

Books on intelligence are not the normalstuff of the review pages of the Journalof Advanced Nursing and I have toadmit that this text was given to me bythe author, who is both a friend andformer colleague. My purpose inreviewing this very short introductionto the subject of intelligence is not,necessarily, to boost its sales. Rather, Iwish to bring to the attention of nursesand nurse researchers a topic fromanother discipline which is presented issuch a way that it must be a greatchallenge to nursing. It is not the issueon intelligence per se which interests mebut the ability of an author in another®eld to convey a concept clearly and todraw upon decades of internationalresearch in support of his arguments.Witness our efforts to describe theconcept ± allegedly fundamental tonursing ± of caring. We even havedif®culty in articulating what nursingis. I am not ignoring the fact thatintelligence, and even caring andnursing, are controversial issues. What-ever your view on intelligence there is anabundance of hard evidence around tosupport its construct validity and it isclearly a reliable concept over the life-span of an individual. Where in nursingcan we point with such certainty to aconstruct? As for the book, it is shortand extremely readable. As a tradebook, it will be visible at airports andrailway stations for those who wish,rapidly, to assimilate knowledge on asubject. Without `dumbing down' orpatronizing the reader, Ian Deary hasdone the general public a great service.

Roger WatsonMedia Reviews Editor

Resolving Ethical Dilemmas: A Guidefor Clinicians, 2nd editionby Bernard Lo (2000)Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins,Philadelphia, $39á95, ISBN 0 78172219 5.

A major limitation of this book is thedistinct lack of an international perspec-tive; many ethical dilemmas are of ahuman rather than cultural nature, andthis is not re¯ected in this text. Equallydisappointing, the author seems to havetaken a medically egocentric position,implying that the physician is the onlymember of the health care team whomay be faced with an ethical dilemma.From a legal standpoint, this egocentri-city may be justi®ed, particularly in theUnited States of America, but from anethical perspective, all members of theteam should have recognition of theirviews. The book is organized into chap-ters containing case studies that clearlyidenti®ed topical issues and this wasuseful. Although the use of case studiesattempts to connect practical situationsto abstract concepts, there was verylimited discussion following many ofthe studies, which may be nonproduc-tive, particularly as resolution of eth-ical dilemmas involves discussion anddebate.

It is dif®cult to say who might ®ndthis type of book bene®cial; it would beof limited use to nurses or other healthprofessionals because of the narrowprofessional focus. The author suggestsin the preface that this second editionhas been revised to make it more usefulto medical students and this may be theintended audience. Currently, there aremany books on ethics that may be moreuseful, not least because they providea multiprofessional approach to animportant area that should not be seento be exclusive to medicine.

Pat PearceyUniversity of Hull, UK

Ó 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd 715