Media Reviews

The Medical Adventurerby James DyceStress Publications,Lavenham, 1999, 128 pages, £8á50,ISBN 0 950 82778 9.

Dr James Dyce is an eminent physicianand dentist, famous for his invention ofthe Dyce deep focus camera whichrevolutionized the recording of dentaldisasters and pictures deep into themouth and throat. He rose from humbleorigins in the North-east of Scotland toHarley Street, London where he livedand practised. The route to success wasclearly stressful as he has been writingabout stress since his retirement. How-ever, as anyone who has read his work,for example Stress, the Dilemma ofSuccess (Dyce 1982) will know, hisviews on the subject do not conform tothe usual theories and have not foundmuch publicity outside of his own pub-lishing company, the stable from whichthis book also comes.

Dr Dyce's modest assertion would bethat he cannot write English but thisbook proves otherwise: he is a veryengaging and entertaining writer. Hestrings together anecdotes in an almostdisjointed but readable manner. Thepresent book is a short autobiographywhich traces his professional career withthe thread of his Christian faith holdingit together. Early in his life met theOxford Group, later known as MoralRe-Armament (MRA), and this had aprofound in¯uence on his life. Whatremains of MRA is fairly vestigial butDr Dyce clearly remains committed tothe movement. The seeking of individu-alized `sound bite' guidance from Godon all daily matters, a basic tenet of theMRA creed, is not accepted by mosttheologians but Dr Dyce believes thatthis has guided his personal and profes-sional life. This book will not be on anybestseller lists but it is worth reading ±it's different!

Roger WatsonMedia Reviews Editor

Reference

Dyce J. (1982) Stress, the Dilemma ofSuccess. Stress Books, Lavenham.

Action Research in Health Careby Alison Morton-CooperBlackwell Science, Oxford, 2000, 114pages, £14á99, ISBN 0 632 04091 2.

The impetus for producing this book liesin Alison Morton-Cooper's struggle to®nd a practical and demystifying text onthe use of action research in healthcare.This book is an introduction to the use ofaction research geared at workers inhealthcare, using examples drawn fromnursing rather than the medical scienti®cmethod. The stated aim being to show therelevance of action research as a more¯exible vehicle for the active examinationof the problems of practice. The format ofthe book makes for ease of reference,highlighting central themes and pointingthe reader towards signi®cant texts,which further elucidate the points made.

The book is divided into four majorsections dealing speci®cally with theprocess of participating in or carryingout action research studies. These followa logical progression from why onechooses action research to constructingthe proposal, managing the project andwriting the report. Overall the content ismainly descriptive rather than analyt-ical. Some chapters have minimal sup-porting references and the content ispractically orientated which is relevantfor those preparing to undertake anaction research study. Where the bookreally does triumph is in the provision ofguidelines for critiquing action researchthus emphasizing the practical utility ofthe text. The content has been written inan easily understandable style. Thechapters are clearly presented andaccompanied by tables and bullet pointsthat are lucid and unambiguous. It is abook, which should certainly be avail-able in all nursing libraries.

Mary KempleUniversity College Dublin, Ireland

Plain Words for Nurses: Writing andCommunicating Effectivelyby Alison TurnbullThe Foundation of Nursing Studies,London, 2001, £6á50, (available fromhttp://www.fons.org/projects/plainwds.htm) ISBN: 0 954 00910 X.

Why do we ®nd it so hard to writeclearly? Information sheets for patientsand articles written for nursing journalsare often cringe-making because theyuse unnecessarily complicated words andsentences. And it's not just nurses ±we come across other examples every-day on signs and in publicity asking usto take out a bank loan or change ourcredit cards.

It is fashionable to blame trendyteaching methods but this is not thewhole story. Much of the problem isabout `impression management'. Inwriting, as in other parts of our lives,we try to create the impression that wethink other people expect. So lawyersthink their status and salaries will beimproved by a pompous style that onlythey can understand. Nurses writingpatient information lea¯ets probablydo not deliberately set out to do thistoo, but often the effect is the same. Weseem to think that patients will takemore notice of our advice if it is writtenin a supposedly more technical andprofessional style and journal editorswill think our article is more valuable ifwe use long words and sentences.

Plain Words for Nurses shows thatthis is completely wrong. People aremuch more likely to take what we writeseriously if it is easy to read. PlainWords for Nurses is full of examplesand tips on how to do exactly this. Thekey messages are: short words and sen-tences are always better than long ones,don't use jargon and avoid `¯annel' ± orwrapping things up in repetitions andwaf¯e. Use your word processor'sgrammar checker to remove faults,check your own work by reading it

814 Ó 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd