Media Reviews

Edited by Graham R. Williamson

Perioperative Nursingby Linda Shields and Helen Werder.Greenwich Medical Media, London,2002, 262 pages, £24.50, ISBN 1 84110083 8.

This book, which is divided into fivesections, provides a wealth of informa-tion concerning perioperative practiceand is aimed at the qualified perioper-ative nurse or students wishing to spe-cialize in the area.

Although very readable, the layout ofthe sections is somewhat confusing – theheadings entitled ‘Nursing Considera-tions’ within chapters are inappropriateas much of the remaining text is alsouseful to nurses. The pictures and dia-grams are helpful, although labellingwould have been preferable especiallyfor the novice who may be unfamiliarwith the equipment discussed.

The sections on particular clientgroups including mothers and babies,children and the elderly are useful inproviding specific information and mayappeal to a wider audience. Anaesthet-ics, surgical positions and potentialcomplications are also detailed andvaluable. For those nurses thinking ofa career in this field, however, anappreciation of the breadth of the rolehas been omitted. This might includematerial on such developments as pre-and postoperative visiting, and the firstassistant role, and improving the sectionon recovery nursing. The wider contextwithin which nurses are practisingwould also have been a useful addition,including risk assessment and multi-disciplinary audit.

This book is written in an easy,comprehensive format. The informationprovided is extensive and supported byfurther reading, and will provide auseful resource for nurses in the field.

Alyson HoylesUniversity of Sheffield, UK

Trends in Wound Care (a BritishJournal of Nursing Monograph)by Richard White.Quay Books, Salisbury, UK, 2002,190 pages, £24.99, ISBN 1 85642170 8.

This book is a compilation based onarticles first published in the BritishJournal of Nursing between 1999 and2001. It consists of four sections,exploring basic wound healing, progressin acute and chronic wound manage-ment and implications for clinical prac-tice. The editor’s intention is that this isthe first volume in a regular sequence oftextbooks, which are ‘dedicated to pro-viding nurses with a concise ‘‘state ofthe art’’ manual’. The book looksappealing, with some excellent colourphotographs, easy-to-read tables anddiagrams, and is well laid out. However,some of the charts and photographs aretoo small or too complex to be of anyreal value, and the content of the chap-ters is rather variable.

Some chapters appear rather ele-mentary (for instance, chapter threeon applying principles of infectioncontrol to wound care), and are moreappropriate for novice nurses, whilstothers (for example chapter 2) providean update on current knowledge,appealing to practitioners experiencedin wound management. The referencelists reflect this spectrum of levels. Dueto this very heterogeneous composition,targeting an appropriate audience isdifficult. Most of the chapters reviewa particular aspect of wound care,although one chapter includes primaryresearch data. Many of the chaptersaddress the theoretical aspects of anissue more comprehensively than theyaddress the practice elements. Some ofthe chapters are very fluent and clear,but others include too much material,and read more like brief notes on atopic. The chapters are generally well

referenced and a good source of rele-vant evidence.

Overall, I would not rush out to buythis text or necessarily recommend it tomy students, but it may be a usefuladdition to the library.

P.A. JacksonUniversity of Southampton, UK

Cicely Saunders, Founder of the HospiceMovement: Selected Letters 1959–99by David Clark.Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002,412 pages, £39.95, ISBN 0 19851607 X.

This book presents an in-depth accountof Dame Cicely Saunders’ aspirationsregarding her vision for good qualitypalliative care. The philosophy of hol-ism, where the dying person’s physical,psychological, emotional and spiritualneeds should be met is clearly addressed.The desire to help alleviate a patient’smental or physical pain is evident.

Dame Cicely Saunders’ genuine andpositive regard for dying people is pal-pable. This is apparent in the way sheexpresses her concerns for compassion-ate care. Not only is this apparent formher writing, but also from that of otherpalliative care colleagues and patients.The very humanitarian nature of DameCicely Saunders shines through the textof this book. Her practical accomplish-ments have been highlighted, namely thefounding of St Christopher’s Hospice inSydenham, where the vision become areality. The hospice, which was purposebuilt, provided peaceful surroundingswhere skilled staff offered care to helpalleviate patients’ suffering. The empha-sis was not merely on caring, but oncaring with compassion. The philosophyof hospice care was also being dissem-inated world-wide.

The letters in this book provide a richbackground to the hospice philosophyand movement. They put palliative care

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into context, both from an historicaland a global perspective. They show theamount of energy and enthusiasmrequired to set up a hospice. This isclear from those with a vision forpalliative care, and those in the govern-ment and voluntary sectors that suppor-ted the vision. The book brings togetherthe views of others who had a vision forpalliative care, providing valuableinsights into the palliative care philoso-phy world-wide. It also gives a goodoverview regarding symptoms experien-ces by patients, and how effectively theywere managed. There are many exam-ples of patients’ responses to illness,from physical, emotional and spiritualperspectives.

Breige DevlinMarie Curie Centre, Belfast, UK

Core Skills for Nurse Practitioners:A Handbook for Nurse Practitionersby Diane Palmer and Surrinder Kaur.Whurr Publishing, London, 2003,223 pages, £19.50, ISBN 1 86156275 6.

This is a book that is aimed at nursepractitioners, whose number is likely to

rise as the boundaries between tradi-tional ‘medical’ and ‘nursing’ roles dis-solve. Most of the chapter authors havehad some involvement with the Univer-sity of Hull specialist nurse endoscopistcourse. The idea was to produce a shorttext that would be useful to a relativelyrecently appointed nurse practitioner, asan introduction to the arenas into whichtheir new role is likely to take them.There are 14 chapters, covering whatmight be termed ‘professional issues’topics; for example, there are chapterson leadership, change management, evi-dence-based practice, legal issues, eth-ical issues, and reflecting on practice.These are likely to be ‘core skills’ forsuch nurses, as the title implies. Severalof the chapters have examples from theauthors’ own experience, and somechapters have short reflective exercisesthat might be useful for readers to use tomake the links between the theoreticalmaterial and their own practice.

One criticism is that the material isavailable in greater depth elsewhere,and rather than adding to the debateson the issues they cover, the authorshave simply summarized and collected

the arguments of others. However, thisis not a major criticism, given that thebook is intended for the relative novice,but given the increasing tendency forspecialist nurses to have postgraduatequalifications, it is possible that somereaders might find the level of thematerial presented quite basic. How-ever, some of the chapters provide asgood a short summary of the issues as Ihave seen: the chapters on ChangeManagement and Clinical Supervisionare particularly good in this respect.

Overall, this book could be quiteuseful for its intended market of newlyappointed nurse practitioners, as it pro-vides a succinct summary of some of theprofessional issues faced by nurses inthese posts. I imagine that novice nursepractitioners are likely to need all thehelp that they can get in their initialmonths, and this book should offersome pointers regarding the directionthat they should take in their new roles.

Graham R. WilliamsonJAN Media Reviews Editor

Media Reviews

536 � 2003 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 43(5), 535–536