Ask a Nurse: From Home Remedies to Hospital Care, American Association of Colleges of Nursing; edited by Geraldine Bednash, PhD, RN, FAAN, Executive Director; New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001, 414 pages, hardcover.
As Geraldine Bednash points out in the introduction and opening chapter of Ask a Nurse, the public trust placed in nurses makes them ideal sources for health care information. Seen as more approachable and nurturing than MDs, nurses are often the educators of patients and families regarding questions of not only diagnosis and treatment but also preventive health care. Ask a Nurse puts this information in an easy-to-read guide that could replace unnecessary phone calls to the family practitioner or the office nurse.
This book is a reference tool, and the layperson can draw on the expertise of 100 nurses and 550 nursing schools, in an orderly progression of chapters, beginning logically with health care at home and moving through chapters on common conditions; men's, women's and children's health; sexual health; and concluding chapters on hospital stays, medications and pharmacists, and, finally, death and dying. Chapters include preventive care as well as explanations of common diseases and conditions and the symptoms and treatments of each, including generic and brand names of over-the-counter remedies and prescription drugs. Homeopathic therapies and herbal remedies are also included.
Chapters of Ask a Nurse contain some general knowledge as well as advice from seasoned practitioners. Within each chapter, small graphics and bullets help to order the contents, allowing the reader to quickly find pertinent sections.
The information is clearly written and easily understandable by the layperson. In each chapter, different groups of nurses share their expertise. This is particularly effective because the reader always feels as if he or she is gleaning information from a variety of practitioners with specialized areas of interest rather than from one professional. On the downside, readers can be distracted by the constant intrusion of credits to each individual nurse whose advice is quoted, and since the information is repeated less obtrusively in an appendix of sorts, these intrusions aren't necessary.
As a general reference book, Ask a Nurse would be a helpful addition to the home bookshelf. It is, however, a compendium of medical information and as such works well only as a primary source. Readers wishing to know more about a particular condition or disease will want to seek more complete information from books dedicated to their subject. As a basic home health guide, this book can answer an amazing variety of questions: What belongs in a home medicine cabinet? What is the best treatment for back pain? What over-the-counter remedies work best for colds and flu? How can a pregnant woman avoid heartburn? What do I need to consider before entering a hospital?
And if a trip to the doctor's office or hospital does become necessary, a patient who is familiar with the contents of Ask A Nurse is a better-educated patient, apt to be less fearful because he or she has some knowledge of the illness and what steps might be necessary in its treatment. Written under the auspices of the American Association of Colleges and Nurses, Ask a Nurse delivers a confident and competent guide to home health care.