Mauk, K. L. (2006).Gerontological Nursing: Competencies for Care.Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.

I especially enjoyed reviewing this book because I teach baccalaureate and graduate nursing students about gerontological nursing. It includes many special features in its discussion about gerontological nursing care, including research highlights, tables, a list of key terms, a glossary, and short case scenarios with critical thinking questions in each chapter. The book comprises excellent chapters on geriatric assessment, age-related changes to body systems, and diseases common to the elderly. Chapters on the roles of the gerontological nurse and global and cultural perspectives of gerontological care are included. Complementary and alternative medicine as they apply to geriatric care and end-of-life issues is discussed in depth. The book's editor and many of the contributors and reviewers are well known and very knowledgeable in the field of gerontology and/or rehabilitation. Clearly, there is a vast accumulation of expertise within the contents of the book.

I highly recommend this book as a resource for registered nurses, advanced practice nurses, and graduate students. My only concern is with regard to undergraduate students. The preface of the book states that the book is intended for "basic baccalaureate-level." I think that it could be useful at that level, but as a supplemental text used along with a medical-surgical text. Undergraduate students need more in-depth knowledge of disease that is not provided here. By the same token, undergraduate classes that include the topic of gerontology among other topics may not need the entire section that is devoted to the roles of the gerontological nurse or to global healthcare systems and policy. Ethics, cultural competence, and global healthcare systems are likely to be covered in other classes. Consequently, faculty in an undergraduate course that includes gerontology may not use approximately 150 pages of the book. If the course focuses solely on gerontology, however, then this is an excellent comprehensive text for undergraduate students.

-Leslie Neal-Boylan, PhD, RN, CRRN, FNP-C