The Washington Manual™ Nephrology Subspecialty Consult

Nephrology Nursing Journal,  Jan-Feb, 2005  by Margaret Nusser Gerlach

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The Washington Manual[TM] Nephrology Subspecialty Consult Irfan A. Agha and Gopa Bhattacharyya Green (Editors) First Edition, 2004 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, under license from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine http://www.LWW.com ISBN 0-7817-4377-X Soft cover, 292 pages, $29.95

The Washington Manual Nephrology Subspecialty Consult is the newest edition to a series of consult manuals written by residents and fellows to provide essential information and a practical road map for evaluation, diagnosis and appropriate management of patients in a particular subspecialty. The authors of this excellent nephrology manual acknowledge the shortage of nephrologists now and in the future while the numbers of patients with kidney disease increases every year. It is their intention not only to provide a resource for students of nephrology, but to provide the general internist with a guide to the practice of renal medicine.

Each of the 29 chapters emphasizes the initial evaluation, diagnostic approaches, pathophysiology of and response to disease states, and key management strategies for all issues relevant to kidney disease. Each chapter is well organized and the format covers key questions to ask during an initial consult as well as issues in ongoing management. Key points to remember are summarized at the end of each topic and a list of current references are provided to facilitate more indepth reading on the particular subject covered in the chapter.

The tables, algorithms, figures, photographs, and illustrations throughout the manual are excellent and certainly contribute to the overall understanding of the pathology and management of kidney disease, chronic renal failure, renal replacement therapies, and kidney transplant. The appendix section lists medications that may be nephrotoxic, medications with active metabolites, and dosing adjustments for antimicrobials, antivirals, and transplant drugs.

Every chapter in this book will benefit the midlevel practitioner who is caring for patients with chronic kidney disease, on peritoneal or hemodialysis, or who has been transplanted. The chapters covering the manifestations of kidney failure, renal replacement therapies, and transplant would also be of interest to nephrology nurses in general. I strongly recommend this manual as a resource for nephrology nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists, and plan to carry my copy with me daily.

Margaret "Peggy" Nusser Gerlach, MSN, APRN, CNN

Adult Nephrology Nurse Practitioner

Internal Medicine/Nephrology

University of Nebraska Medical Center

Omaha, NE

Member, ANNA Platte River Chapter

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