Perioperative Services: Administration, Resource Management, And Patient Care. - Review - book review

AORN Journal, August, 2001 by Tammi Humphrey

PERIOPERATIVE SERVICES: ADMINISTRATION, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, AND PATIENT CARE

By Cathy Frye, Cynthia Spry 2000, 628 pp $249, looseleaf

This book is intended for professionals who manage services in today's fast-paced, intense, and financially lucrative perioperative departments. Many changes have occurred in these departments during the past decade because of managed care, hospital mergers, and management reengineering, and the author recognizes the need for a source of information to which managers can turn when they need answers quickly. This book attempts to meet this need by providing information clearly and concisely, which should be helpful to managers in all areas of perioperative service. In addition to the critical information supplied in the manual, the author has included various forms and checklists that can be used with minimal modification.

Experienced perioperative nurses wrote the majority of the book. This is beneficial, as practical advice and knowledge is imparted by those who know the internal workings of perioperative services. The topic of part one is administration, and these chapters contain practical, essential information that will provide managers with a wealth of knowledge in vital areas. The chapter on preparation for a Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations review is especially helpful. Although a necessary evil, the Joint Commission elicits feelings of apprehension on the part of most hospital administrators and managers. Many of us want to know what is important to the Joint Commission and what we should do to best prepare for review. This chapter provides some insights that will help. The checklists and sample forms are very straightforward and practical. Any manager who employs the information contained in this chapter should have reduced anxiety about an impending Joint Commission review.

Part two--Resource Management--provides information necessary to ensure that all available resources work together to achieve optimum patient care. As most perioperative service departments have operating budgets in the multimillion dollar range, it is imperative that managers implement methods that will maximize their budgets to remain fiscally sound in this era Of capitation. Although one cannot become budget-wise simply by reading a chapter or two, the information imparted certainly helps in achieving this goal.

Patient education is an essential component of total patient care. Patients have more positive outcomes when they are educated about their specific disease and the treatment modalities available to them, as well as wellness and prevention of disease as a whole. Education is, in fact, a patient right, and it is our responsibility as health care professionals to ensure that patients receive the education they deserve. Part three addresses this issue and provides essential information concerning the theory and practice of educating surgical patients and their significant others. Included case studies and teaching tool samples provide a sound foundation on which to build a personalized educational component for patients.

In summary, this book is a practical and concise reference manual that would be beneficial in any manager's library. It addresses issues that are common to all perioperative managers, regardless of the size of their yearly caseload. The looseleaf binder format makes it easy to retrieve sample charts and formats and offers ease in adding supplemental information. The ability to update is invaluable in this constant state of change. The language used throughout the manual is understood easily and has been written by those who know the system best--perioperative nurses. I highly recommend this manual and welcome it into my library.

This book is available from Aspen Publishers, Inc, 200 Orchard Ridge Dr, Suite 200, Gaithersburg, MD 20878; http://www.aspenpub.com.

TAMMI HUMPHREY RN, BSN, CNOR PERIOPERATIVE NURSING INSTRUCTOR LEESBURG REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER LEESBURG, FLA