Delmar's Pediatric Nursing Care Plans, 3rd Edition

ISBN: 9780766859944
ISBN-10: 0766859940
Copyright: 2005
Edition: 3rd
Author: Luxner, Karla L.
Doody's Expert Review    Score: 76
Reviewer: Rebecca McKernan,  BSN, MSN  (University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center)
Description
The third edition of this book is a very useful guide to facilitate care planning with the pediatric population. It provides necessary information for the nurse to be able to give skillful assessments, diagnosis, planning, outcome identification, intervention, and evaluation. The previous edition was published in 1998.
Purpose
The purpose of this book is to help nurses facilitate the nursing process by providing nursing care plans that can be individualized to their patients. Excellent nursing care can be achieved by proper planning, assessment, intervention, and evaluation. By providing basic nursing care plans for common diagnoses followed by flow charts for specific illnesses, patient care is enhanced greatly. The author's objectives were met.
Audience
This book is written for nurses, students and advanced practice nurses who work with pediatric clients. This is stated by the author who appears to be a credible authority and who has written three editions of this book.
Features
This book is intended to help facilitate the care planning process for pediatric nurses. It provides nursing diagnoses form NANDA'S Taxonomy II. The outcome criteria that is included is from Nursing Outcome Classification (NOC). The text also contains suggested Nursing Intervention Classifications (NIC) for each nursing diagnosis, in addition to suggested comprehensive and individualized interventions. Each section begins with introductory information and current medical management. The user may individualize the care plan for each condition pertinent to her/his patient. The author states that the nursing care plans provided are intended to serve as a framework in which the nurse may customize to her patient. At the end of each care plan is a care map which summarizes the diagnosis in an easy-to-follow format. This is especially valuable as it is easy to read and understand. A CD is also included in the back of the book that contains electronic files for all the care plans. Nurses are able to create new care plans, customize care plans, add and delete nursing diagnoses and interventions. The plans can then be printed for the clinical setting. I found this to be very helpful in planning individualized patient care. There is some confusion in the book under common nursing diagnoses which are included with each care plan. The reader seems to be referred to the specific diagnosis only to be referred back to that page. For example under Apnea, a common nursing diagnosis is ineffective breathing pattern. It refers you to "see" this diagnosis but when looked up in the back of the book it refers you back to the same page.
Assessment
This book is a very useful guide in helping the nurse through the nursing process which includes care planning. Written nursing care plans need to individualized and are an important means of communication among health care providers, clients, and families. They help ensure that care is coordinated to achieve the best outcomes. Resources like this book make this job much easier for the nurse. There are many care plan books available but the flow chart at the end of each section and the CD make this book very useful. The third edition ensures that the information is being reviewed and updated to keep up with the fast-changing medical world. Today's nurse must make complex decisions, determine what is right for her patient and what does not need to be done. Priorities are critical and good reference books are essential to providing excellent nursing care to our patients.
Review Questionnaire
Range Question Score
1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 8
1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 8
1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5
1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 3
1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 3
1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 4
1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? N/A
1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. N/A
1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. N/A
1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5
1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 4
1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 4
1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 4
1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book 3
1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 8
1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? 6