AORN JOURNAL MARCH 1992, VOL 55, NO 3

Book Reviews

NURSING PROCESS

Documenting Care: Communication, the Nursing Process and Documentation Standards By Frances T. Fischbach 1991, 677pp $24.95 paperback

This book promotes the accurate and compre- hensive documentation of nursing practice in a clear and expeditious manner. Documentation is an integral part of the nursing process. The need for a textbook dealing specifically with the documentation process became apparent to the author while she was instructing and super- vising students in the clinical setting.

This book is designed to be used as a com- prehensive, up-to-date resource and teaching/ learning tool for all levels of nursing students. The inactive nurse returning to practice will find it helpful as he or she develops an under- standing of the nursing process in relation to basic documentation strategies. The practicing nurse will find the book helpful in providing ideas about the use of more efficient and con- sistent strategies to promote meaningful, accu- rate entries on patient care records.

The book is organized into six units and 21 chapters and is based on the Fischbach Model for Documentation. The model is made up of three unifying components: communication, nursing process, and documentation standards. Several chapters deal with documentation requirements for specific settings, special care areas, and patient populations. Some reference also is given to the legal, ethical, and risk man- agement aspects of documentation.

This book is available from F A Davis Co,

KAREN RICHARDSON, RN, BSN, CNOR NURSING COORDINATOR/OR, PACU, ASU

JOHN T. MATHER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL PORT JEFFERSON, NY

1915 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1493.

SPECIALIZATION

HIV Screening of Pregnant Women and Newborns Edited by Leslie M. Hardy 1991, 146pp $19 paperback

HIV Screening of Pregnant Women and Newborns is very dry and matter-of-fact. It is directed to policy and decision makers who want to set up some type of screening for preg- nant women and newborns.

This text is a report from a committee that was developed by the Institutes of Medicine, Washington, DC, at the request of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop- ment, Bethesda, Md and the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta. The committee was developed “to offer direction to policy makers and to examine the myriad of questions that frame the development of a sound perinatal HIV screen- ing policy.” The summary at the beginning of the text lists the committee’s conclusions, and the following chapters expand on them.

The chapters cover what is now the history of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic involving women of childbearing age and newborns and the problems associated with screening this group. The book states that a goal must be set before any type of screening

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