A Nurse's Survival Guide to the Ward - E-Book: A Nurse's Survival Guide to the Ward - E-Book

by Ann Richards BA(Hons), MSc DipN(Lon), RGN,RNT, Sharon L. Edwards EdD SFHEA NTF MSc PGCEA DipN(Lon) RN

Overview

The new edition of this highly popular book is an indispensable guide to daily procedures and problems for nurses starting work on the ward or returning to practice. It provides guidance in a variety of areas including: how to organise your job and yourself; how to assess patients; clinical information on a wide range of conditions; important principles, procedures and investigations; how to administer drugs safely; and what to do in an emergency. As well as information on how to do the job, the importance of communication and nursing care issues is emphasised. Background information is also given on underlying legal, health and safety issues.

This book will help you with

• Organising your job and yourself
• Assessing patients
• Getting clinical information on a wide range of conditions
• Important principles, procedures and investigations
• Administering drugs safely
• What to do in an emergency
• Communication, legal health and safety issues

• A new section on professional practice relates current issues to nursing practice
• Updated drug section provides essential understanding of common drug classes
• New resuscitation guidelines

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780702051715
Publisher:	Elsevier Health Sciences
Publication date:	07/24/2012
Series:	A Nurse's Survival Guide
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	500
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Table of Contents

SECTION 1 Your job and its organization: Organizing yourself; Emergency situations

SECTION 2 Assessing and investigating: Identification of patient problems; Assessment; Observations and measurements; Procedures and investigations; Nursing care issues

SECTION 3 Procedures: General principles and procedures; Infection and its control; Fluid and electrolyte balance; Nutritional support

SECTION 4 A systems approach: The cardiovascular system; The respiratory system; The blood; The gastrointestinal system; The renal system; The nervous system; The endocrine system; Diseases of bones and joints; The immune system; Cancer; Surgery

SECTION 5 Pharmacology; Drugs and the law: Administration of drugs; Nurse prescribing; Pharmacology in practice; Classification of drugs; Poisoning

References; Further reading and useful websites;

Appendix 1 Units of measurement; Appendix 2 Normal values; Appendix 3 Drug measurement and calculations

Glossary; Index

Editorial Reviews

3 Stars from Doody

"The highlights of this book are its comprehensive contents; and the manner in which subjects are covered, specifically the systematic approach to managing patient care...The strength is the sheer volume of information covered by the authors. It is comprehensive in the data provided. It has expanded from previous editions to include issues related to professional practice for nurses. Being revised, it is up to date and this is seen through the inclusion of the current resuscitation guidelines."

Nursing Times, April 2013

"This guide is a useful 'friend and companion' to keep close at hand. It is an essential reference for nurses, not only on the ward but in every field of practice where patient care is given. In fact, it makes an accessible guide for all healthcare practitioners...The text is presented inclear and concise slices that could make learning a piece of cake...The book is so practical that it even comes with a waterproof, wipeable and durable cover. I recommend this guide as an invaluable resource for nurses from day on of their training an throughout their nursing career."

Nursing Standard, May 2013

"The guide would be an excellent resource in many situations. It would be of obvious benefit for nursing students or newly registered nurses and allied healthcare professionals, but also for nurses or members of multidisciplinary teams whose specialist roles many have taken them away providing care in acute settings. The information is easy to follow and so can provide a good prompt for exam revision or to provide a basic update before a placement. It also allows readers to generate questions that can be discuessed with senior colleagues to provide a holistic approach to providing care."

Nursing Managment, July 2013

From the Publisher

Reviewer: Penny Wolfe Moore, RNC, PhD (Southwestern Adventist University)
Description: This is another "pocket-sized guide to all you need to know to be a nurse" type of book. This is a great idea but almost impossible to achieve. This one was published in the U.K. and, as the title suggests, includes words and phrases that are not common to U.S. readers. Topics are presented in a summary format with many bulleted lists.
Purpose: According to the authors, "This little book aims to be a survival guide and constant companion during those first early days in practice as a student and hopefully will also provide answers to some of the many questions you will continue to ask well beyond your qualification and early years as a staff nurse.... The aim is to provide the factual information needed to assist in your provision of holistic care." These are worthy objectives and are met as well as any 375-page pocket guide can do.
Audience: Nursing students and new graduate nurses are the primary users of this book. The authors are both educators.
Features: This book provides instantly accessible practical guidance on day-to-day procedures and problems in a variety of areas, including how to organize your job and yourself; how to assess patients; important principles, procedures and investigations; clinical information on a wide range of conditions; how to administer drugs safely; and what to do in an emergency. It also covers the importance of communication and emphasizes nursing care issues. Background information is presented on underlying legal, health, and safety issues. The section on pharmacology is particularly good. There are almost no illustrations. Topics are simply summarized.
Assessment: Student nurses would do better by selecting the pocket guide that is a companion to the textbook they use. Other guides that are better organized and more comprehensive include two by Springhouse, Handbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing, 3rd Edition (2002) and Portable RN: The All-in-One Nursing Reference (2002). This book is adequate, but it would not be my pick of the many available.

Doody's Review Service