Opinion
Book reviews Feminist Evaluation and Research: Theory and Practice Sharon Brisolara (Eds) Guildford Press £28.85 | 368pp ISBN: 9781462515202
AS AN overview of feminist theory and research strategies, this outstanding book offers insights into the contribution of feminist methods to research and evaluation projects. The author explores the difficulties involved in adopting a feminist research approach to the study of school health programmes in the United States, Australia and Canada. She also discusses a range of international studies fromAngola and Syria to south Asia and Latin America. The book should appeal to students, practitioners and researchers in nursing, education, psychology, social work, public
health and criminal justice. It could also be a useful supplementary text for courses in research methods, programme evaluation, community based research, self-reflection and international development. Steph Caldwell is a nurse in Manchester
Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference Alison Brayfield (Ed) Pharmaceutical Press £459 | 4,688pp ISBN: 9780857111395
PRESENTED AS a two-volume boxed set, this is the world’s most comprehensive and reliable guide to drugs and medicines. At 4,688 pages, it is no pocket reference. With more than 6,000 drug monographs, 180,000
preparations and 54,000 reference citations, it has greater international coverage of its subject than any other resource. Innovations for this, the 38th edition, include a redesign, with monographs restructured around uses and preparation of drugs. The drug monographs appear in volume one, while the second volume includes preparations, manufacturers, pharmaceutical terms in various languages, and general and Cyrillic indices. Coverage of proprietary preparations has been increased. This section now covers 43 countries, including China. Abstracts on the porphyria group of disorders have been updated and revised extensively, and there is excellent material on herbal agents, radiopharmaceuticals, toxins and poison. This remains the best resource for reputable, referenced and unbiased information. Information on products and precautions is easy to find, and the books are immensely readable. Helena Soni is a practice nurse in London
Roisin Devlin
The bigger picture THIS MONTH the Northern Ireland (NI) Human Rights Commission is starting a series of public hearings as part of its inquiry into emergency health care. As an emergency nurse, I have mixed emotions about the inquiry. I am deeply disappointed that an inquiry into alleged breaches of patients’ human rights is required. But I also hope the inquiry will give emergency nurses opportunities to raise concerns about standards of care and will ensure that their concerns are acted on. In February, emergency nurses in NI outlined many of these concerns at a Royal College of Nursing summit attended by the health minister, the chief nursing officer (CNO) and the chief medical officer for NI. In response, the CNO has commissioned the NI emergency care network and the NI Practice and Education Council for Nursing and Midwifery to develop a framework for emergency care. 12 September 2014 | Volume 22 | Number 5
The inquiry will be an independent study of emergency care and how emergency nurses work in NI, and as such it is a welcome step. But it will not address three much larger, interconnected problems: ■■ Emergency departments (EDs) remain the ‘front doors’ of the hospital system, and ED staff are expected to manage patients with any and every condition. ■■ EDs are becoming increasingly overcrowded and staff must contend with a lack of space in their work environments. ■■ The targets emergency nurses must meet apply only to their area of practice, not to the healthcare system as a whole. Tackling problems Despite these pressures, ED nurses generally deliver high standards of care. If there are failures, nurses must acknowledge and learn from them to ensure that they do not happen again. But such failures would be less likely
to occur if these three problems in emergency care were tackled. I hope that the NI Human Rights Commission understands what nurses in NI have been saying for the past few years and the changes they want to see in the future. Emergency nurses want to know what the inquiry will mean for them, whether there will be new investment into EDs and, above all, whether they will be able to reach the ends of their shifts in the knowledge that they have provided safe and effective care. Over the coming months, emergency nurses in NI will do what they can to ensure a positive outcome to the inquiry and the development of a care system that is fit for purpose. Roisin Devlin is an emergency nurse practitioner, and a member of the Emergency Care Association steering group and the RCN Northern Ireland Emergency Care Network
EMERGENCY NURSE
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Book reviews Feminist Evaluation and Research: Theory and Practice Sharon Brisolara (Eds) Guildford Press £28.85 | 368pp ISBN: 9781462515202
AS AN overview of feminist theory and research strategies, this outstanding book offers insights into the contribution of feminist methods to research and evaluation projects. The author explores the difficulties involved in adopting a feminist research approach to the study of school health programmes in the United States, Australia and Canada. She also discusses a range of international studies fromAngola and Syria to south Asia and Latin America. The book should appeal to students, practitioners and researchers in nursing, education, psychology, social work, public
health and criminal justice. It could also be a useful supplementary text for courses in research methods, programme evaluation, community based research, self-reflection and international development. Steph Caldwell is a nurse in Manchester
Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference Alison Brayfield (Ed) Pharmaceutical Press £459 | 4,688pp ISBN: 9780857111395
PRESENTED AS a two-volume boxed set, this is the world’s most comprehensive and reliable guide to drugs and medicines. At 4,688 pages, it is no pocket reference. With more than 6,000 drug monographs, 180,000
preparations and 54,000 reference citations, it has greater international coverage of its subject than any other resource. Innovations for this, the 38th edition, include a redesign, with monographs restructured around uses and preparation of drugs. The drug monographs appear in volume one, while the second volume includes preparations, manufacturers, pharmaceutical terms in various languages, and general and Cyrillic indices. Coverage of proprietary preparations has been increased. This section now covers 43 countries, including China. Abstracts on the porphyria group of disorders have been updated and revised extensively, and there is excellent material on herbal agents, radiopharmaceuticals, toxins and poison. This remains the best resource for reputable, referenced and unbiased information. Information on products and precautions is easy to find, and the books are immensely readable. Helena Soni is a practice nurse in London
Roisin Devlin
The bigger picture THIS MONTH the Northern Ireland (NI) Human Rights Commission is starting a series of public hearings as part of its inquiry into emergency health care. As an emergency nurse, I have mixed emotions about the inquiry. I am deeply disappointed that an inquiry into alleged breaches of patients’ human rights is required. But I also hope the inquiry will give emergency nurses opportunities to raise concerns about standards of care and will ensure that their concerns are acted on. In February, emergency nurses in NI outlined many of these concerns at a Royal College of Nursing summit attended by the health minister, the chief nursing officer (CNO) and the chief medical officer for NI. In response, the CNO has commissioned the NI emergency care network and the NI Practice and Education Council for Nursing and Midwifery to develop a framework for emergency care. 12 September 2014 | Volume 22 | Number 5
The inquiry will be an independent study of emergency care and how emergency nurses work in NI, and as such it is a welcome step. But it will not address three much larger, interconnected problems: ■■ Emergency departments (EDs) remain the ‘front doors’ of the hospital system, and ED staff are expected to manage patients with any and every condition. ■■ EDs are becoming increasingly overcrowded and staff must contend with a lack of space in their work environments. ■■ The targets emergency nurses must meet apply only to their area of practice, not to the healthcare system as a whole. Tackling problems Despite these pressures, ED nurses generally deliver high standards of care. If there are failures, nurses must acknowledge and learn from them to ensure that they do not happen again. But such failures would be less likely
to occur if these three problems in emergency care were tackled. I hope that the NI Human Rights Commission understands what nurses in NI have been saying for the past few years and the changes they want to see in the future. Emergency nurses want to know what the inquiry will mean for them, whether there will be new investment into EDs and, above all, whether they will be able to reach the ends of their shifts in the knowledge that they have provided safe and effective care. Over the coming months, emergency nurses in NI will do what they can to ensure a positive outcome to the inquiry and the development of a care system that is fit for purpose. Roisin Devlin is an emergency nurse practitioner, and a member of the Emergency Care Association steering group and the RCN Northern Ireland Emergency Care Network
EMERGENCY NURSE
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