Community Health Nursing: Promoting the Health of Populations. - book review

AORN Journal,  April, 2003  by Cynthia Sook

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third ed By Mary A. Nies and Melanie McEwen 2001, 860pp $64 hardback

The health of a community usually is taken for granted. A thorough understanding of what makes up the health of a community is important because it is the basis for making decisions necessary for future growth and direction. The third edition of this book deftly weaves nursing issues and greater community issues together to show how the profession can affect a community's health positively. In doing so, nurses' actions also affect the world. Community nursing encompasses prenatal care through death and dying, and it is perhaps the most wide-ranging collaborative specialty in the nursing profession.

The authors continue the first edition's technique of integrating the unique concept of upstream thinking, which is defined as the community nurse working upstream within a community's health care system. The authors use case studies as examples and to reinforce this upstream perspective.

The book is divided into seven units, and each unit is divided into chapters. Units review specific nursing theories in general and then move to a discussion of the theory applied to a specific topic. The authors explore the advantages and limitations of the theory as applied to the topic. These are not only helpful discussions, but they also provide solid examples of how theory actually is applied, moving theory from the abstract to the practical. Real-world case studies demonstrate application of the nursing process.

The front and back covers give a quick overview of the book, showing unit divisions, chapter topics, and case study examples. The broad range of references at the end of each chapter shows the authors' painstaking dedication to studying this topic from many different angles. References include government publications, various medical and nursing journals, and institutional reports. Each chapter also includes a list of recommended readings to aid those who want to learn more about a particular topic.

Features of the book that make it easy to read include a coordinated color scheme, highlighted important words, and tables and boxes of information that are detailed nicely but do not detract from the overall discussion. The primary colors of the book are an attractive teal blue, white, and black.

In reading the book, I found little attention was paid to the growing knowledge base about health care outcomes. Several major universities, such as the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, are making major contributions to this endeavor, and their nursing departments have played a significant role in research development. It also was difficult to learn much about the development of a nursing data set for community nursing, such as the Perioperative Nursing Data Set that is now in its second edition. These two areas are worthy of inclusion in a fourth edition.

I hope readers with an interest in learning more about community health will include this publication in their research and library. Both authors and their family members dedicated a great deal of time and effort to making this the best book possible. I hope the nursing profession as a whole will recognize the contribution the authors have made to the study of nursing and the education of future nurses.

This book is available from W B Saunders Co, The Curtis Center, Independence Square West, Philadelphia, PA 19106; http://www.harcourthealth.com

CYNTHIA SOOK
RN, MSN
STAFF NURSE, SURGERY
WICHITA VETERANS AFFAIRS HOSPITAL

KAN

COPYRIGHT 2003 Association of Operating Room Nurses, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group