Management Guidelines for Nurse Practitioners Working with Older Adults, 2nd Edition Doody's Expert Review Review Questionnaire ISBN: 9780803611207 ISBN-10: 080361120X Copyright: 2004 Edition: 2nd Editors: Kennedy-Malone, Laurie, Fletcher, Kathleen Ryan, Plank, Lori Martin, Doody's Expert Review    Score: 93 Doody's Star Rating™ and Doody's Expert Review provide by Doody Enterprises, Inc. Reviewer: Jean Berry,  PhD  (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing) Description This is a revision of a book designed to meet the needs of practitioners caring for older adult patients in outpatient settings. Although small enough in size to be carried in a lab coat pocket, it contains a wide range of information pertaining to common health problems in the elderly as well as tables, algorithms, ICD 9 codes and clinical pearls that highlight unique aging aspects of each problem. The previous edition was published in 2000. Purpose This book is specifically designed to provide age-related information for primary care management of older adults. As the population ages, increasing numbers of older patients are seen in the outpatient areas for care. Healthcare workers providing this care may not be prepared to identify age-related problems as well as the unique presentation of these problems in this specific population. The main objective to provide this critical information is accomplished in this handbook. Audience The book is written for advanced practice nurses including clinical nurse specialists and case managers, students and RNs who provide care for older adults in the ambulatory care setting. It is designed for use in primary care and is appropriately broad in content. The level of the material is appropriate for the range of the audience. The authors and contributors include a wide range of advance practice nurses and clinical experts with relevant credentials. Features The first part of this book serves as a quick guide to health promotion with updated information regarding dietary and exercise assessment as well as recommendations. In addition, immunization schedules for both healthy adults and those with other medical conditions are included. Issues of safety, substance abuse and sexual behavior are succinctly presented. The unique feature of the book is a symptom-based format for 19 common older adult health problems used in the next section. The book includes a list of differential diagnoses to help practitioners problem solve, much as is done in a typical patient encounter. Frequency of problem, ICD 9 codes, contributing factors, signs and symptoms, diagnostic tests, complications and follow-up are discussed for each patient problem, as well as prevention and education. References are listed for each problem, including Web sites with current guidelines and specific contacts for specialty organizations. The addition of many clinical pearls, which point out the atypical age-related presentations of health problems, catch the reader's attention and add to the usefulness of this book. System-based discussions of many additional common disorders in older adults are included. Pharmacological treatment is presented for each disorder but the book is not to be used as a drug reference, as doses and drugs change quite frequently. In addition, new guidelines for management of hypertension have been released since this edition was completed. Assessment This is a very useful guide for busy practitioners in the primary care area. It is not meant to be used as a primary care textbook, but it covers the essential information for all covered topics. References and current guidelines are included for further reading. Although this handbook is not as comprehensive as The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics, 30th Edition (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001), it is unique in providing specific age-based information including lab values and test interpretations along with age-related physiologic changes. Review Questionnaire Range Question Score 1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 10 1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 10 1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5 1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 4 1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 5 1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 5 1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5 1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 4 1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 4 1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book 5 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? 10 ©2010 Doody Enterprises, Inc.