608 Index 616 The Handbook of Geriatric Nursing Care was developed for nurses caring for geriatric patients. The handbook covers a broad range of topics such as diseases, treatments, procedures, and age related issues. Examples include abuse and neglect, alcohol abuse, appendectomy, physical assessment, atrial fibrillation, cerebrovascular accident, lung cancer, nutritional needs, rheumatoid arthritis, and pressure sores. Topics are organized alphabetically. Specific entries, depending on the topic, may contain information such as supplies needed, implementation, complications, patient teaching, documentation, signs and symptoms, diagnostic tests, treatment, drug alerts, and outcomes.
Entries are typically two to three pages in length.
Useful charts and graphics are provided throughout the handbook. Examples include a flow chart of the progress of adult respiratory distress syndrome, a table dispelling common myths about aging, an alcohol screening test for older adults, graphics of intestinal stomas, and stages of pressure ulcers. Four appendices chart physiologic changes in aging, laboratory value changes in the elderly, levels of care and pharmacodynamic changes and aging. Although this handbook is not aimed at the consumer, much of the information presented within the book would be useful for any individual caring for the elderly. Information within the text might be more accessible if the material were arranged by broad subject categories such as diseases and disorders, treatment and therapy, and age related issues, rather than alphabetically.