October 2002 28:5 JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING 463

M E D I A R E V I E W S

Pediatric Nursing Secrets

Levasseur S. Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus, 2002, 227 pp, $37.95,ISBN 1-56053-522-9.

It is 3 AM and a sick baby comes through the ED doors in

severe respiratory distress with stridor. You remember that it

is either in cases of croup or epiglottitis that you are not

supposed to agitate the child for fear of airway compromise,

but you cannot remember which is which. The hallmark of

a good emergency nursing book lies in its ability to allow

the reader to retrieve specific information as needed

quickly. Reaching for this book and looking in the index,

I was able to find an excellent chart outlining both diseases

in less than 30 seconds.

The Pediatric Nursing Secrets book is part of the suc-

cessful “Secrets” line of nursing and medical texts built

around an informal question and answer style. The book is

arranged in 20 chapters ranging from physical assessment

and development to respiratory conditions and child abuse.

Incorporated into the chapters is information on children

ranging from hours-old neonates to late adolescents. The

index is excellent and thorough, and the cross-referencing

makes finding specific information easy.

I was impressed particularly with the chapter on pedi-

atric oncology. The book includes several charts detailing

the differences in various stages of chemotherapy and the

types of stem cell transplants. There is also a superb chapter

on breastfeeding. Of particular interest are descriptions of

assorted problems that can occur with breastfeeding (such

as mastitis or breast abscesses) and if the parent can safely

nurse through them.

As good as the book is with medically ill children,

I would have liked to have seen chapters on trauma and

Reviews of Books, Videos,

CDs, Audiotapes, Web Sites, and More,

Written by Emergency Nurses

Media Reviewer: Steven Taylor, RN, CEN, Willingboro, NJ

Steven Taylor, RN, CEN, Southern Jersey Chapter, is Clinical Level IIINurse, Emergency Department, The Children’s Hospital ofPhiladelphia, Pa; E-mail: taylors@email.chop.edu.

J Emerg Nurs 2002;28:463-4.

Copyright © 2002 by the Emergency Nurses Association.

0099-1767/2002 $35.00 + 0

464 JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING 28:5 October 2002

MEDIA REVIEW/Taylor

resuscitation in children and any information on orthope-

dic injuries at all. The book is very focused on sick children

and development, but information about accidents and in-

juries is lacking. Because injuries are among the leading

causes of death in children across all ages, this omission de-

tracts from the overall value of the book for the emergency

nurse.

This book is a first-rate resource on ill children and

normal childhood development and for brushing up on pe-

diatrics in general. However, when a child with a traumatic

injury comes through the door, this is not the first book

I would reach for.—Steven Taylor, RN, CEN18/9/128526

doi:10.1067/men.2002.128526

Correction

The Media Review of “Challenges in Emergency Nursing: A Self-Study Certification Review, 2nd ed” by Selfridge-Thomas J, HallMM, Rea RE, that appeared in the August issue (2002;28:347-8)should have indicated that the book was published in 1999, not1991.