Nursing Concepts: Oxygenation

Lisa Kennedy Sheldon. 225 pp. Thorofare, NJ: Slack. $24.00. ISBN: 1-55642-523-6.

The author of this book succeeds in using the concept of oxygenation to make a clear connection between theory and practice. The posing of clinically relevant questions at the beginning of each chapter with answers at the conclusion of the chapter is one way the author attempts to bridge knowledge with experience. The book was written to meet the needs of both student and nursing professional, which might be a bit too broad. At first glance, my belief was that the author was stretching the concept of oxygenation into the circulatory and hematologic systems, but she does a nice job of stating the case and connecting the oxygenation concepts relevant to those systems.

Information is introduced by systems-first by posing clinically relevant questions and then reviewing anatomy and physiology, describing scientific principles, discussing disorders of oxygenation, outlining nursing and medical interventions, and ending with answers to questions at the beginning of the chapter and multiple-choice questions and answers. Within each chapter there are boxed-in excerpts from the text that are considered key points for learning. I appreciate the holistic approach to care presented, which allows the reader to delve into nursing and medical interventions as well as alternative therapies. There are many good case studies throughout the book, which stimulated me to think of concepts in ways I hadn't thought of before. The diagrams, tables, and charts are well done, with just the right amount of detail. As a bonus, there are perforated study cards with many of the key points reproduced from the text to reinforce important critical information. This book would be a nice reference for all nursing professionals because it is clinically relevant and makes some complex principles easy to comprehend.