MEDIA REVIEWS

Clinical Evidence Issue 1 edited by Fiona

Godlee. BMJ Publishing Group, London,

2000,598pages,£45á00, ISBN0727913646.

Purporting to be a compendium of the best

available evidence for effective heath care

this new book is a signi®cant breakthrough

on the clinical effectiveness front. The

presentation is reminiscent of the British

National Formulary and it is intended to

update the book twice yearly. It will be

interesting to see if the book grows as the

years pass or if old information is replaced

by new or if subsequent volumes intro-

duce entirely new ®elds. Between the

introduction to the book and the main

material there is an excellent glossary of

terms used in clinical effectiveness ±

almost worth the price of the book on its

own. The introduction explains how the

topics for the book were selected and how

the evidence was gathered. Thereafter the

book is divided into chapters on each of

the following: infectious diseases, endo-

crine disorders, mental health, neurolog-

ical disorders, ear, nose and throat,

respiratory diseases, digestive system,

skin, wounds, musculoskeletal diseases,

gynaecology, urology, sexual health, breast

disorders, child health and cardiovascular

diseases. Each section contains within it a

series of topics which read like mini

systematic reviews of the literature ±

which is exactly what they are.

Naturally, the book is mainly of medical

interest but the section on wounds, edited

by Nicky Cullum, is of direct relevance to

nursing. I have been interested in pressure

sore research for 20 years and it is sad to

see how little of the literature, in this area

of proli®c publication, is actually any use

for systematic reviews. Nevertheless, the

place of hydrocolloid dressings, in pres-

sure sore treatment seems to be indisput-

able. This book will undoubtedly build up

over the years into a very valuable collec-

tion and it will be of great interest to see

how new evidence is incorporated.

Roger Watson

Media Reviews Editor

Internet Resources for Nurses edited by

Joyce Fitzpatrick and Kristen Montgomery.

Springer Publishing Company, New York,

2000,250pages,$29á75, ISBN0826113710.

Possibly the ®rst of its kind, this is an

interesting resource book for nurses ±

students, clinicians, researchers and

managers. I suppose it could be asked

why such a book would be needed given

the ease with which world wide web

(WWW) pages can be found across the

globe using search engines or even just

`Jeeves' (www.ask.co.uk). Once there, the

user will soon be able to form an opinion

of the page and its utility. However, there

are just so many WWW pages these days

that some guidance is necessary and there

is still some `technophobia' around in

nursing. The book is North American but

covers European and, speci®cally, United

Kingdom WWW sites. The book is divided

into three parts: Clinical Web Sites, Profes-

sional Web Sites and Evaluating Informa-

tion. The last part comprises just one

chapter which does not actually evaluate

any WWW sites.

The criteria used for evaluating the

WWW sites reviewed are: authority/

source, purpose/objectivity, content,

currency and design. The editors derived

these criteria after a systematic review of

WWW sites and this alone is a very useful

addition to method in this area. The best

are included which the editors think will

be useful to nurses and they are reviewed

by a wide variety of individuals. I tried to

test the veracity of the claims made about

some sites ± many of which are familiar to

most academics ± and found them to be

accurate. There was high praise for the

Royal College of Nurses in the United

Kingdom's research pages but I agree with

the reviewer that they can seem a bit

disjointed. My copy of this book will go

straight to our library for the use of our

students but I can well imagine consulting

it again myself in the future.

Roger Watson

Media Reviews Editor

Re¯ective Practice: a Guide for Nurses and

Midwives edited by Beverley J. Taylor.

Open University Press, Buckingham, 2000,

254 pages, £15á99, ISBN 0 335 20689 1.

Re¯ective practice is now widely accepted

as a means of improving clinical practice.

Re¯ective practice aims to enhance patient

care through the professional development

and growing expertise of practitioners.

The author presents an overview of re¯ec-

tive practice by giving guidelines of how

re¯ection can assist clinical practice for

nurses and midwives. Because the book is

written from a practice perspective, the

text is focused directly on clinical nurses

and midwives.

The material is divided appropriately

into 11 sections. Section 1 looks at the

nature of re¯ection. The author de®nes the

term and explores sources of re¯ection.

Section 2 discusses the nature of nursing

and midwifery, focuses on work settings

and constraints. Section 3 considers the

role of re¯ective practice to nurses/mid-

wives and gives essentials for novices for

getting ready to re¯ect. Section 4 illus-

trates some practical examples based on

clinical practitioners' real stories (two

midwives and one nurse). The value of

re¯ection to clinical practice and to

nurses/midwives is highlighted in section

5. Section 6 covers brie¯y the three types

of re¯ection use in clinical practice. In the

next three sections (7, 8 and 9), the author

goes on and analyses the three types of

re¯ection (technical, practical and eman-

cipatory) separately, and presents prac-

tical examples for each type of re¯ection.

Section 10 presents three real stories of

clinical practitioners, followed by critical

comments from the author. Finally,

section 11 discusses maintaining nurses/

midwives re¯ective practitioner's menta-

lity and the value of ®nding support

systems to keep them on track.

The author writes in a lucid style. The

book is written clearly and provides an

interesting read. Each section is well refer-

enced, directing the reader to other rele-

vant literature. The sections are well

Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2000, 32(6), 1579±1582

Ó 2000 Blackwell Science Ltd 1579