RAPID REFERENCE FOR NURSES

Karren Kowalski, RN, PhD, FAAN, and Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, RN, EdD, CNAA, FAAN. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishing. 2007; 690 pages.

Kowalski and Yoder-Wise's new book serves as a quick reference guide for professional nurses in the clinical setting. The authors state clearly in the beginning of the book that their purpose was to refresh memory, not create it (p. xi); therefore, they feel that this book is to be used as a general guide to augment other resources.

The contents of this book include 6 parts. The book begins with Part I, which covers words and meanings. Part II is Basic Processes such as communication, the nursing process, assessment guides, and documentation guidelines. Part III is Select Care Issues, which highlights patient teaching, safety, pain management, medications, immunizations, bioterrorism, infection control, seizure management, violence, and end-of-life issues. Part IV covers special populations, for example, maternal child, pediatric nursing, psychiatric and mental health nursing, and geriatric nursing. Parts V and VI have a variety of clinical and professional resources.

I agree with the author's suggestion that this book should be used as a starting point when referencing information. Although this book covers a lot of pertinent topics, I found that it did not cover some important and current clinical issues. Several examples include Pro B-type Natriuretic Peptide in the congestive heart failure patient and Troponin levels in the myocardial infarction patient. Although many abbreviations were covered, some important abbreviations were not, such as VRE (Vanocomycin-Resistant Enterococci), K⁺ (Potassium), and how about H & P (History and Physical). I specifically looked for these abbreviations as well as others because I know they have perplexed my beginning novice nurses (nurse externs and nursing students). In the glossary section, I feel that some pictures or diagrams would have been helpful to visualize the different terms being researched.

In this book, there is a very good section on Professional Organizations and their Web sites beginning on page 608, which I thought was very helpful. I would recommend this reference book as a supplement to other reference books; however, I do not feel that it is a replacement for Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary or some of the online references available to nurses.

Submitted by

Lisa A. Ruth-Sahd, DEd, RN, CCRN, CEN

Associate Professor of Nursing

York College of Pennsylvania, York, PA

Dr Ruth-Sahd is a consultant with DCCN

[email protected]