Where Have All the Nurses Gone?
Faye Satterly
First Edition, 2004
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive
Amherst, NY 14228-2197
www.prometheusbooks.com
ISBN: 1-59102-140-5
Soft cover, 225 pages, U.S. $14.28 new/$11.99 used

The purpose of this book is to address the impact of the nursing shortage on American healthcare. In 12 easy-to-read chapters, Satterly lays out all facets of the current nursing shortage. She details the historical context of managed care, the changing dynamics of nurse/physician relations, the effect on patients, what institutions and providers can do to retain nurses, how nurses can creatively become part of the solution, the public’s personal accountability for health outcomes and responsibility for end of life choices, and the conundrum posed by liability in healthcare. As a bonus she has also included five information packed appendices that list, with addresses, both general and specialty nursing organizations in the United States and Canada; groups supporting nurses; help with advance directives; and finally, a very timely essay on fighting obesity.

The major strength of this book is that it combines excellent writing skill (it reads like a novel) and is packed with useful information. Even if you know most of the facts, you will learn something new from the ensemble in which she arranges the history and research of healthcare as it pertains to the nursing shortage. It is a must-read for all who care about nurses and nursing. And do you know what is best about this book? It is written by a nurse for nurses. When you finish it, you have to believe that the future is bright in spite of the prognostications to the contrary. It is also written for the public and will do a huge amount to help the healthcare industry and the recipients of our care understand the essence of nursing.

Lesley C. Dinwiddie, MSN, RN, FNP, CNN
Nephrology Nurse Consultant
Cary, NC
Member, ANNA’s Cardinal Chapter

Acid-Base and Electrolyte Disorders:
A Companion to Brenner & Rector’s The Kidney
Thomas D. Dubose Jr. and Lee L. Hamm (Editors)
First Edition, 2002
W.B. Saunders Company
The Curtis Center/Independence Square West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
ISBN: 0-7216-8956-6
Hard cover, 547 pages, U.S. $109 new/$88 used

In a review of the book Acid-Base and Electrolyte Disorders: A Companion to Brenner & Rector’s The Kidney, the reader can find a very organized approach to diagnosis and formulation of treatments for common metabolic and electrolyte disorders. The stated purpose by the authors was to provide medical students, house officers, nephrology fellows and clinical nephrologists a detailed focus on nephrology with emphasis on the physiology of acid base imbalances specifically. After review of the book, the authors have been successful in expanding on Brenner & Rector’s The Kidney by further providing the pathophysiologic content omitted in the earlier edition. The book’s first section leads into an overview of acid-base and metabolic disorders and the other four sections discuss management of disorders in water, sodium, potassium, and divalent ions.

Multiple easy-to-follow tables, formulas and pictures further helped to illustrate the author’s explanation of metabolic disorders. Clinicians in hospital and outpatient settings alike will find this reference very helpful for formatting a more detailed approach to management of patients with acid-base abnormalities. The writing style was very technical and detailed in content and thus may slow the more novice professional with formatting quick decisions. This strong emphasis on pathophysiology and the organization of the contents, however, can serve as an asset in the academic setting or for reference purposes.