Technological Competency asCaring in NursingReviewed by Shirley Girouard, PhD, RN, FAAN

Rozzano C. Locsin. Indianapolis, Ind, 2005.$29.95. ISBN 1-930538-12-X. 229 pp.

This book uses a theoretical and philo-sophical approach to understandingand exploring the role of past andpresent technology in nursing and itsrelationship to the caring essence ofnursing practice.

The primary purpose of the book isto explore the essence of professionalnursing in the context of a society thatemphasizes and values science andtechnology. It critically explores tech-nological aspects of nursing and pa-tient care from philosophical andtheoretical perspectives and raisesissues for practicing nurses, nurse edu-cators, and graduate level nursing stu-dents. Although unlikely to be used inits entirety for undergraduates, it canguide faculty in approaching the tech-nological aspects of nursing within acontext of principled, professionalnursing behavior.

The book is well organized in itsexploration of key concepts. Althoughthere is some redundancy across chap-ters, it allows educators and others toselect subsections (chapters) that couldbe used independently for differentteaching/learning situations. Althoughsome information is not new, theanalysis and synthesis makes explicitthe experience of technology for cli-ents, nurses, and society. Chapters in-clude the historical and contemporaryaspects of technology in health andhealthcare with thoughtful develop-ment of the key concepts demonstrat-ing how nurses are the product of asociety that values science, technology,and related issues about caring andother holistic approaches to care. Byexploring technological competence asan expression of caring in professional

practice, the case that technology neednot be the antithesis of caring but is apart of the caring experience is made.

An insightful and thoughtful dis-cussion of the key points is included.Chapter summaries are useful forfocusing critical thinking about theissue and can be used to stimulatemeaningful discussion on professionalnursing practice in the current envi-ronment. The graphics, vignettes, andquestions at the end of the book pro-vide an overview of key points andcould be used to guide clinical nursespecialist practice and graduate nurs-ing education. Also, with some modi-fication, selected issues could be usedin undergraduate professional rolecourses and issues seminars to puttechnology into a different perspec-tive. Incorporating the content intoeducation could result in technologicalcompetence and skills being seen in amore holistic and ethical framework.This book can help students, teachers,and clinicians meet the challenges ofan increasingly dehumanized and non-caring healthcare system. It is a rec-ommended reading for all faculty andfor graduate students and graduate-prepared clinicians who seek a way toexplain and comprehend an appro-priate approach to technology andnursing in healthcare settings that arefrequently noncaring and not respect-ful of individuals.

Ethical HealthcareReviewed by Maria R. Shirey, MS, MBA,RN, CNAA, BC, FACHE

Patricia Illingsworth and Wendy E. Parmet.Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson PrenticeHall, 2006. $65.00. ISBN 0-13-045301-3. 606 pp.

Ethical Healthcare provides an inter-disciplinary contribution to the exist-ing healthcare literature in the area ofethics. Although broad in scope, thebook lacks the clinical focus that

would be desired for a clinical nursespecialist or advanced practice nursetext. The book may be useful as anintroductory text in an interdisciplinaryhealthcare ethics course.

The book presents a broadenedperspective of bioethics by integratingsocial, economic, public policy, andlegal influences on healthcare. It ex-pands the horizons of bioethics by re-configuring the discussion beyond thecontext of individual healthcare pro-viders and their relationship to in-dividual patients. The authors arguethat the health of individuals is atleast partially dependent on the healthof communities and thus falls withinthe purview of public health. Althoughthe far-reaching scope of the bookemphasizes collaboration betweendisciplinesVparticularly law, medi-cine, and religionVthe book fails tocapture the nursing professions uniquescope of autonomous practice andsignificant contributions to ethicalhealthcare. That the 2 sections dedi-cated to nursing were written by non-nurse authors without nursing col-laboration and supported by datedreferences (circa 1972Y1984) furthersupports this argument.

The book is organized into 7 chap-ters starting with an overview of bio-ethics, including building blocks ofhealth and ethical obligations ofhealthcare providers, institutions, in-dividuals, society, and biomedical sci-ence. A major strength of the chaptersis that they attempt to cover a broaderscope than most other similar books.The major limitations of the bookinclude the ambitious variety in thebook chapters and editing inconsisten-cies (ie, citation format differencesbetween chapters, lack of a consistentchapter template). These limitationsresult in a book that feels more likean amalgamation of individual articlesthan a textured and seamless whole.

Sue Sendelbach, PhD, RN, CCNS

Column Editor

Books at a Glance

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The scholarly writing style gives littleemphasis to clinical application, mak-ing this book more useful for graduatedidactic instruction than as a clinicalreference guide. A faculty memberusing this text in an academic setting,however, may address this limitationby supplementing each chapter withinteractive case studies or interdisci-plinary field-based activities.

Complementary and AlternativeTherapies for Nursing Practice2nd edReviewed by Maura Fitzgerald, RN, MS,MA, CNS

Karen Lee Fontaine. Upper Saddle River, NJ,Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005. $40.95. ISBN0-13-151254-4. 510 pp.

Complementary and Alterative Thera-pies for Nursing Practice provides asurvey of topics related to complemen-tary and alternative medicine (CAM).Subjects include alterative healing sys-tems and specific therapies. Given thewidespread use of CAM in healthy in-dividuals and those dealing with acuteand chronic illness, the advanced prac-tice nurse will find this text to be auseful addition to the reference shelf.

As the author indicates, the tradi-tional focus of the nursing professionon the whole person, rather than aset of symptoms or a diseased organ,matches well with the holistic ap-proach of many CAM therapies.Nurses are often very open to the useof CAM and interested in discoveringways in which they can incorporateCAM safely and efficaciously intotheir practice. This text, which pro-vides concise information on a rangeof therapies, will make it easier toacquire that information.

The text is organized with an initialunit that describes basic conceptsrelated to CAM healing systems andtherapies. The second unit covers Sys-tematized Health Care Practices (Tra-

ditional Chinese Medicine, AyurvedicMedicine, and Native American Heal-ing and Curanderismo) and subse-quent units cover Botanical Healing,Manual Healing Methods, Mind-Body Techniques, Spiritual Therapies,and Other Therapies. The arrange-ment of information in each chapteris clear and consistent, including asummary of principles, treatment op-tions, research, and integrated nursingpractice. The research section of eachchapter highlights the status of re-search in the area enabling the readerto better evaluate the evidence foreach therapy, whereas the integratednursing practice section provides ad-vice on how the nurse can either in-corporate therapies into practice orobtain more information or training.Key information is highlighted intables, figures, and boxes for easyreadability and accessibility. Particu-larly useful are the boxes entitledUsing Research to Heal, which pro-vide in-depth discussion of a specificstudy including other questions the re-search raises and how the informa-tion can be used in practice. Also funand interesting is the Try This box,which offers instruction in simple tech-niques that the reader can experience.

This book would be a valuable re-source to the advanced practice nurseas a reference when client poses ques-tions about using CAM or when theadvanced practice registered nursewould like more information beforerecommending a specific therapy suchas meditation training for stress man-agement or acupuncture for pain.

Conversations in Critical Thinkingand Clinical JudgmentReviewed by Sr. Mary Jean Flaherty,MSN, PhD

ByMarilynn Jackson, Donna D. Ignatavicius,and Bette Case. Jones and Bartlett Publish-ers, Sudbury, Mass, 2006. $37.95. ISBN 0-7637-3871-9. 297 pp.

This is a well-written how-to bookthat is based in theory and offerscreative, helpful suggestions on howto incorporate critical thinking intopractice and assisting members of thehealthcare team to expand their ownskills in this area. It is proposed thatasking the right questions through logicand critical thinking will encouragenurses to find the appropriate solutionsto the right questions. An analogy ismade to the story of the 4 blind mendescribing an elephant as they stand atdifferent places around the elephant.This theme in understanding criticalthinking from many perspectives andphilosophies is carried out throughoutthe book. The thesis is that with thepromotion of learning from these foun-dations, better clinical judgments arecreated.

This book is very comprehensive inscope covering education, practice,and research. It addresses the needsof individuals and groups. The themeof the elephant descriptions organizesthe chapters and creates a logical pre-sentation of the material. The authorspoint out early in the book that theydo not advise reading the book fromcover to cover, but rather to be se-lective according to ones needs. TheTable of Contents encourages thisapproach.

The authors point out that criticalthinking is essential to asking the rightquestions and finding appropriate so-lutions. The books approach is con-versational in style. It would be ahelpful addition to the bookshelvesof both the clinical nurse specialistsin directing their search for answers tothe complex problems they face everyday in the management of care in bothprimary care and acute care settings.The creative ideas found in The Ap-pendix would be especially helpful inworking with nurses and other healthprofessionals in planning programsto develop and improve critical think-ing skills.

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