doi:10.1016/j.

Journal of Neonatal Nursing (2010) 16, 229e230

www.elsevier.com/jneo

BOOK REVIEW

Library editions

Nursing the Neonate, M. Meeks, M. HallsworthH. Yeo (Eds.), second ed. Wiley-Blackwell UK,November 2009, p. 364, £26.99 (paperback), ISBN978-1-4051-4974-7

This is an excellent book written by UK neonatalprofessionals, and finally lays to rest the need forneonatal nurses in this country to use American nursingtextbooks or those aimed at medical staff. It is over 10years since the first edition, and this one has beenthoroughlyupdated,usingamultidisciplinaryapproachwithcontributionsnotonlybyneonatalnurses,butalsoby other specialist members of the neonatal team.

It has 20 chapters, and the authors have mainlyavoided the ‘body systems’ approach includingchapters on the evolution of neonatal care, thesmall baby, the dying baby, ethics, developmentalcare and discharge planning, making it much moreapplicable for neonatal nurses. Each chapter startswith a box listing the learning outcomes, andnotes on implications for practice are dottedthroughout. All the chapters are well written,nicely presented, and comprehensive enough for itto become a main neonatal nursing textbook.

Evidence based theory is used throughout, and thisis demonstrated very well by the chapter on devel-opmental care where the difficulties in obtainingevidence for long term benefits are acknowledged,but the statement that it is a kinder and more humaneway to care for babies should silence the critics.

The only minor criticism I have is that thechapter on ‘Congenital Conditions’ gives detailedinformation on chromosomal abnormalities, andgenetic counselling, and maybe should have beentitled ‘Genetics’ to make it easier to reference.This chapter makes particularly good use of casestudies, and is well worth a read because this isa rapidly developing area of neonatology.

The editors state that they aim to encouragethe linking of theory to practice, and to facilitatethe development of knowledge and skills; this bookpromises to do just that. Highly recommended.

jnn.2010.01.001

This Lovely Life, a Memoir of Premature Moth-erhood, Vicki Forman, Mariner books, Harcourt,New York (2009), 264 pp., £6.99 (paperback), ISBN978-0-547-23275-1

This book details the experiences of a woman inAmerica who delivered twins at 23 weeks gestationin 2000. The parents, aware of the high morbidityand mortality at this gestation, requested that thebabies not be resuscitated, but the law inCalifornia stated that they must be. The little girlEllie, died within days, and the boy, Evan, wenthome after 6 months with severe disabilities.

However, this is not a book about whether thesebabies should have been resuscitated or not, butabout the impact on the family when things gowrong, and how we as neonatal professionals oftenfail those for whom it doesn’t turn out right.Although in the UK parents are given more autonomyregarding medical decisions concerning their chil-dren than they are in the US, communication prob-lems can and do exist, and we can learn from theexperiences of this very brave and honest woman.

She talks about being asked to leave during thenurse’s handover; ‘Shift change was sacred, andeven the most grief stricken parent could notpossibly sit bedside during shift change’. When theparents finally take Evan home, the photo shewaited 6 months to put up on the NICU board isforgotten as the staff spend 2 hours detailing thecomplex care he needs at home. The motherwrites with resignation; ‘I just wanted to take my 7pound baby with his 15 diagnoses, nine pagedischarge summary, oxygen, feeding pump, andmonitor and go home’. When she gets home, shetells a friend ‘They didn’t even take a picture of uswhen we were leaving’. So much for family cen-tred care.

Months later she poignantly describes the NICU‘graduate reunion’ in the hospital grounds whichshe watches from the paediatric ward where herson has been readmitted yet again. She sees the

230 Book Review

‘success stories of healthy NICU graduates and Iknow I can’t go, because I don’t need to remindthe doctors of all they haven’t told me’.

This book demonstrates the emotional pain ofparents because of the failure by neonatal staff toprovide consistent, honest communication, anda total lack of support when things go so drasticallywrong.

I have only mentioned a little of what is in thisbook, it is harrowing to read, and the ending isquite unexpected. But we owe it to the parents wetry to support that we listen, and provide them

with consistent messages; a book like this stops tomake us think are we really doing it right, andcould we do better?

Karen Hoover40, The Crofts, Castletown, Isle of Man IM9 1LZ,

United KingdomTel.: þ44 1624 822610.

E-mail address: lkvhoover@hotmail.co.uk

Available online 29 January 2010

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com