NursrEducaltonTodny(1990)10,15~160 0 Longman Group UK Ltd 1990

BOOK REVIEWS

‘WORK

A stoma is for life

B Wade Scutari 1989 22Opp illus ISBN: 1-871364-06-X s13.95

This book is in essence a longitudinal study which forms part of a larger programme to evaluate the work of clinical nurse specialists. The study set out to evaluate the benefits to ostomates of specialist nursing care, to provide information encountered by patients following stoma surgery, to evaluate the implications of specialist nursing posts for other members of the health care team and finally to assess the future training needs of nurse specialists in stoma care.

The text is easy to read and each chapter is summarised. It is a most interesting and valuable contribution to the understanding of the needs of the person with a stoma in hospital and at home.

The book is arranged with 13 chapters, and I feel will contribute to the level of understanding and knowledge of all students and qualified staff, both hospital and community, who are in a position to look at their standards of care in relation to people who have undergone this type of surgery. Barbara Wade feels that the specialist/generalist argument is naive and this is covered far too briefly at the end of the book.

The reader will gain much that is useful from this book and it should be on the reading list for all students to ‘dip into’ throughout their training. Ward sisters, stoma nurses and district nurses in particular would do well to have their own copy.

CHRISTINE HOUGH

BA(Hons) RGN RHV RNT

Interpersonal relationships E Arnold & K Boggs Saunders 1989 563pp illus ISBN: O-7216-2048-5 f15.95

The presentation and format of this book follows todays andragogical approach and encourages self directed learning. The activities and exercises can be used individually or by the facilitator in a group setting with many planned to lead on to discussion. They are easily distinguishable from the text as they are boxed and typed on grey.

The introduction and early chapters form the foundation of the book encompassing theory of

experiential teaching and communications in inter- personal relationships. The contributions made by psychologists and their bearing on the approches taken is identified and the identification of self concept is dealt with in detail.

The remainder of this book covers relating to clients, identifying and dealing with conflict, auton- omy, adapting communication to deal with special needs (e.g. communicating with parents, groups) and bereavement. All chapters have an individual reference list and a suggested further reading list and there is an adequate subject index.

The British reader may be irritated because all the examples given are of American origin.

This text, though quite lengthy, actively involves the reader from the outset and therefore does not make heavy reading; it could be a useful addition to any nursing or midwifery library and to those interested in counselling skills either as a facilitator or student.

MOIU MCLEAN

RGN RM ADM PGCEA

Nursing the patient with cancer V Tschudin Prentice Hall 1989 492pp illus ISBN: O-13-627647-4 $17.95

Cancer remains one of the greatest challenges facing patients and nurses alike. This volume presents a very broad overview of patient care, trying at once to acquaint the reader with the tumour problems and treatment modalities, as well as to offer opening advice on prevention, screening, care of the dying, counsell- ing and staff support. The nursing care was to be presented using Henderson’s model (clearly outlined by Betty Kershaw), but this never quite comes to fruition in the subsequent contributor’s chapters. In many ways this is a book of three standards. Of an excellent standard is the clinical nursing material, responding to particular tumours. Points here are made succinctly and with due reference to relevant

research. Of a generally adequate standard are the chapters dealing with cancer prevention and the tumours encountered amongst AIDS sufferers, These falter a little because the contributors are faced with a plethora of possible material, so that much is either handled simplistically or left unexplored. Unfortu- nately the counselling chapter represents material of a

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largely unsatisfying standard. Whilst staff support may be usefully summarised under half a dozen headings, counselling demands a fuller treatment, impossible within the bounds of one chapter. In summary this is a useful new text on a topic of continuing importance. Nevertheless, the reader is advised to dip in selectively, and to supplement her reading as necessary.

BOBPRICE SRN BA MSc Cert Ed

operating theatre technique 5 Ed R J Brigden Churchill Livingstone 1989 968pp illus ISBN: 0-443-03364-l g65.00

Many textbooks have been written on different aspects of operating theatre technique. This excellent updated British textbook is very comprehensive and covers logically all the aspects from the design of operating departments, through management of them, equipment, anaesthesia and a series of chapters describing various operations.

Throughout, the chapters are well illustrated with those describing various operations having many excellent diagrams to illustrate in detail specialised instruments and specific procedures.

There is a list of references and suggested further reading at the end of each chapter. In addition the author refers readers to specific textbooks if he feels he has been unable to deal sufficiently with a subject in the limitations of one chapter e.g. nursing a patient recovering from anaesthesia. Some of the references are more than 20 years old but on investigation are still relevant. Many excellent new references have been added.

At 265.00 I would not expect many individuals to buy their own copy of this book but would have no hesitation in recommending its purchase for libraries large and small. It is a very useful text for all Ievels of nursing staff, medical students and theatre technicians.

JANICEM MCCALL RGN RCT

Teaching and assessing in nursing practice N Kenworthy & P Nicklin Scutari 1989 168pp illus ISBN: 1-871364-15-g 58.25

This compact, inexpensive but quality book, first published in 1988, was written primarily for partici- pants in ENB Course 998 ‘Teaching and Assessing in Clinical Practice’ and similar courses, but clearly is a text for most nurse educators. It is a lucid and logical account of the theory and practice of a curriculum, based on an experiential approach to nurse education.

I personally feel that the book gives good accounts of ‘traditional’ as well as other, ‘progressive’ forms of education. Chapters are devoted to teaching, learning, and assessing in an experiental context. The text is supported by excellent illustrations and, in some cases, original and ingenious diagrams and tables. It is also a rich source of up-to-date references and concludes with a good index. I enjoyed reading this book learning and re-learning much. My only criticism is the compact print on poor quality paper; I found myself developing eye-strain which normally does not hap- pen to me!

KEITHHURST RGN DipN RCNT CertEd

Faber’s pocket medical dictionary 4 Ed E Forsythe & D Bromham Faber 1989 304pp ISBN: 0-571-15307-O 52.99

The layout of this pocket dictionary makes referenc- ing a simple process for the user. Additional informa- tion contained within the appendices is valuable and relevant to many of the concerns that may confront individuals involved in health care matters, particu- larly the section relating to abbreviations. The print size is acceptable and, although there are no illustra- tions present, this does help to maintain the sole

purpose of the text and would only distract. Pronunciations of the more difficult medical terms

could have been assisted if individual words through- out the text had been broken down appropriately. Production costs have been kept to a minimum, nevertheless this does not mar the quality of this inexpensive text.

MICHAELWALL RGN RNT DipN B Ed

Conceptual models of nursing 2 Ed J Fawcett F A Davis 1989 392pp ISBN: o-8036-3410-2

A fundamental concept to this book is that nursing models and theories can be clearly distinguished, and serve different puposes. Thus, conceptual models are ‘the formal presentations of some nurses’ private image of nursing’ and their use ‘facilitates communica- tion among nurses and provides a systematic approach to nursing practice, education, administration and research’. Models are far more abstract than theories which ‘address phenomena with much greater speci- ficity than do conceptual models’. Models are abstract systems of concepts and propositions, which are then served and delineated by a series of specific concrete theories.