PharmFacts for nurses

From The Critics

Reviewer: Laurel A. Eisenhauer, RN, PhD, FAAN(Boston College School of Nursing)
Description: This is a reference book that focuses mainly on the practical aspects of safe administration of medications. Information is arranged by topic rather than by drug or drug class (e.g., recognizing legal responsibilities, preventing medication errors, managing side effects, delivering infusions, identifying drug therapy in common disorders)
Purpose: The purpose is described as foreword as providing information for "safe, effective, error-free drug therapy." Much of the information is quite practical and not found in other books. Users still would have to have access to another drug reference for full information about a particular drug.
Audience: The audience would be students and practicing nurses; it tends to focus on acute care settings, so it would be of particular usefulness to nurses in these settings.
Features: Illustrations and tables are useful. The lack of references is a major limitation, especially in the section where facts and fallacies are stated. The table of contents and index are adequate; however, because of the topical approach, users may not always become aware of the wealth of information in a chapter or section unless they read it in its entirety. Information about a particular drug may be scattered throughout several sections and pages. The size/shape (similar to many nursing drug reference books) and page configuration (two columns per page) make the information, which is primarily in a narrative form, difficult to handle and to read.
Assessment: This book contains a considerable amount of useful practical information related to the administration of medications; much of the information is not found in most other nursing books. For complete information about the pharmacology of a drug, users would need an additional reference.

Laurel A. Eisenhauer

This is a reference book that focuses mainly on the practical aspects of safe administration of medications. Information is arranged by topic rather than by drug or drug class (e.g., recognizing legal responsibilities, preventing medication errors, managing side effects, delivering infusions, identifying drug therapy in common disorders) The purpose is described as foreword as providing information for safe, effective, error-free drug therapy. Much of the information is quite practical and not found in other books. Users still would have to have access to another drug reference for full information about a particular drug. The audience would be students and practicing nurses; it tends to focus on acute care settings, so it would be of particular usefulness to nurses in these settings. Illustrations and tables are useful. The lack of references is a major limitation, especially in the section where facts and fallacies are stated. The table of contents and index are adequate; however, because of the topical approach, users may not always become aware of the wealth of information in a chapter or section unless they read it in its entirety. Information about a particular drug may be scattered throughout several sections and pages. The size/shape (similar to many nursing drug reference books) and page configuration (two columns per page) make the information, which is primarily in a narrative form, difficult to handle and to read. This book contains a considerable amount of useful practical information related to the administration of medications; much of the information is not found in most other nursing books. For complete information about the pharmacology of a drug, users wouldneed an additional reference.

2 Stars from Doody