Handbook of Nurse Anesthesia

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This handbook is intended primarily for certified registered nurse anesthetists; however, the user-friendly formatting and concise presentation of critical information makes it a highly suitable and useful guide for any nurse in the perioperative setting. The book is divided into three sections: common diseases, common procedures, and common medications.

Sections 1 and 2 are organized by a systems approach. The first section on common diseases uses the following format for each condition: definition, etiology, diagnostic and laboratory findings, clinical manifestations, treatment, anesthetic considerations, and postoperative considerations. Some conditions, however, are more fully explicated than others. Cardiomyopathy and diabetes, for instance, are robustly described, whereas multiple sclerosis and cholecystitis have more cursory descriptions. This should not be seen as a flaw but rather a strategy used by the authors to keep the guide to a manageable size for bedside practitioners by providing more detailed descriptions for conditions deemed to be the most relevant, complicated, or commonly seen. This section also contains many useful tables interspersed throughout with differential diagnosis information, selected medications, and selected laboratory tests with normal values.

The section on common procedures adheres to the following format for each surgical procedure: introduction, preoperative assessment and patient preparation, room preparation, perioperative management, anesthetic technique, and postoperative implications. As with the first section, some surgical procedures, such as surgery for coronary artery disease, are much more comprehensive than less complex procedures. Surgery for coronary artery disease, for example, has hemodynamic status, laboratory data, and long-term use of medications included under the preoperative assessment section. This expanded preoperative discussion takes into account the complexity of care in patients undergoing surgery for coronary artery disease and the variety of clinical factors practitioners must consider. This section also contains many useful tables to augment the information presented in text form.

The third section lists commonly used medications in alphabetical order and presents information on classification, indications, dose, onset and duration, adverse effects, precautions and contraindications, and anesthetic considerations. The information presented is brief but highly relevant because this is a guidebook intended for bedside practitioners.

Finally, there is an appendix that contains other useful tables. For the next edition, it would be helpful to the reader if these lists and tables were integrated within the body of the book, as is the case with other information presented in tabular format. This small criticism, however, should not discourage an interested reader. This handbook is a treasure trove of information that is logically sequenced and highly relevant for all perioperative nurses. For anyone planning to purchase an anesthesia handbook, I would highly suggest that this guide be the one.