© 2000 Harcourt P

Reviews

Book review

Understanding Perioperative Nursing

By Kate Nightingale

Edward Arnold, London, 1999, £18.99, 331 pages

Understanding Perioperative Nursing is a book that hasbeen long overdue in the UK market. Despite theemergence of procedural texts, many have not tackledthe professional issues surrounding the role andfunction of the nurse in the perioperative environment.What this book does do well is to highlight the changesthat have occurred in perioperative nursing and at lastgive it some credible academic foundation. Thenumerous contributors are well known in the field ofperioperative nursing and tackle some quitechallenging subjects. Some chapters stand out forparticular attention, including Leadership for TheatreManagers by Libby Campbell OBE (Ex-Chairman ofNATN), which takes a unique look at the knowledgerequired and breaks down some common skills ofoperating department management. Also, ManagingChange by Marilyn Williams (NATN EducationCommittee) takes a pragmatic look at the role changes

ubl ishers Ltd Int

affecting perioperative nurses on an individual,professional and organizational level. However, one ofthe drawbacks of this text is that it is aimed at aninternational audience which makes some of thechapters sit quite incongruously with others, andslightly takes the shine off the flow of the chapters andultimately the book. The chapter on research wasdisappointing and should have concentrated ondevelopments for perioperative research, rather thandescribe the research process itself. Most practitionersat diploma or degree level, at whom this book is aimed,should need greater detail on this subject. Despite these‘minor’ faults, the book is welcome as a contemporaryreflection of perioperative nursing, and certainlyachieves its aim. It is perhaps not a book to which youwould continually refer and may date quickly in thenext two or three years, which is perhaps a testimony tothe advances in the specialty of perioperative nursingrather than a criticism of the author and her team.

Mark RadfordVice Chairman, British Association of Recovery

Nurses Association

ensive and Critical Care Nursing (2000) 16, 203 203