Reviews J U L Y 2003, V O L 78, NO 1

R E V I E W S

Reducing health care errors; health informatics and nursing; using the Internet as a resource

Error Reduction in Health Care Patrice L. Spath, ed

2000, 284 pp $64 hardback

his book provides readers with an insightful view into the world of risk management and performance improve- T ment in health care. The text

is relatively easy to understand, and the book would be a good reference for hospital administrators and interested staff members. In a refreshing change of pace, the various contributors rec- ommend shifting the focus from perse- cuting individual practitioners who make mistakes and reworking the sys- tem that created the means for mis- takes to happen.

Chapter one presents a case study in which the wrong patient was operated on. Why the mistake occurred and what could have been done to prevent it are discussed. Typically, a single fail- ure will not result in a sentinel event, but several process errors that go unde- tected eventually will cause an undesir- able outcome for a patient.

Chapter three discusses long-term and working memory as they relate to health care workers. Long-term memo- ry is accessed easily, and retrieval requires little effort. Working memory is slow and directs onefs attention to the problem at hand. When health care practitioners try to deal with too many issues, working memory becomes over- loaded, and a mistake is more likely to occur. Becoming too focused on the wrong part of a problem, however, can lead to a mistake as well. This point is

illustrated beautifully in the chapter’s case studies.

Accident investigation methods, such as root cause analysis and man- technique-organization, are discussed at length. These investigation methods literally map out mistakes, step by step, to help determine corrective action. Many tables and graphs throughout the text offer readers in-depth information about acciden

possible formats for man- technique-organization and root cause analysis reports,as well as helpful tips for accident investigators.

Overall, reading this book has made me more conscious of my daily interactions with surgical patients. All health care practitioners must remain constantly alert for potential situations that can lead to errors and take appro- priate steps to correct flawed systems. Tlus book does a remarkable job, and I highly recommend it.

This book is available from Jossey- Bass Publishers, 111 River St, Hoboken, NJ 07030; http://www.josseybass.corn.

PATRICIA A. NUNEMAKER RN

ST JOSEPH REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER PLYMOUTH, I

investigation protocols and

PERIOPERATIVE STAFF NURSE

Textbook i n Health Informatics: A Nursing

Perspective J. Mantas, A. Hasman, eds

2002, 516 pp $94 hardback

Informatics is the discipline con- cerned with the study of information

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and its manipulation via com- puter-based tools. A defini- tion of nursing informatics is the use of technology and/or a computer system to collect, store, process, display, retrieve, and communicate timely data and information in and across health care facil- ities. Advances in information and computer technologies have brought the importance of health care informatics to the forefront.

This textbook follows the curriculum of a nursing infor- matics program. It is divided into four sections, including introduction to health care, data analysis, health informa- tion and knowledge represen- tation, and organizational impact. The first section dis- cusses nursing information technology, and the last sec- tion covers informatics’ impact on the nursing envi- ronment, quality assessment, and communication between health care professionals. The format allows readers to study the sections in any order. The sections are divid- ed into 29 chapters.

One very interesting chap- ter deals with how the organi- zation of health care has changed and will continue to change. It discusses how health care practitioners use information systems for cost containment and accountabili- ty, as well as for improving quality and measuring and comparing alternative forms of treatment. The editors also acknowledge the very real issue of resistance to change and provide some ideas for

deal- ing

with it. They point out that resistance may come from nursing staff members, but it also frequent- ly comes from physicians.

Nurses use new tools, but the ideals of the profession stay the same. This book is designed specifically to edu- cate nurses, and it provides information about health informatics that relates to nursing practice. Using the advances discussed, nurses can spend more time with patients because they will need less time to look for answers to questions. One example is treating a patient who is diabetic. Traditional paper records cannot cope adequately with the mass of data accumulated on such a patient, but new computer systems can handle large amounts of data and help nurses organize the data.

A few of the chapters are highly specialized and will be of most interest to nurses who specialize in related areas. One example is a chap- ter on image processing and analysis that is rife with for- mulas and technical informa- tion beyond the scope of most readers. The book contains a glossary, subject index, and list of contributors that includes addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and affiliations.

There are contributors from the United States, Europe, and Australia. Readers will gain an under- standing of how technology

education in nursing differs in various areas in the world. For example, at the Univer- sity of Athens, Greece, stu- dents must take two full semesters of informatics education.

The importance of the information presented in this book is emphasized by the president of the International Council of Nurses who believes that without this information, nurses will be limited in their ability to con- tribute to future develop- ments in nursing and health care information systems. This book provides an in- depth look at nursing infor- matics. It would be great for classroom use and could be used in nurse education pro- grams for hospital inservice discussion groups.

IS0 Press, Inc, 5795-G Burke Centre Pkwy, Burke, VA 22015; isobooks@kopress.com.

SUSAN JENSEN RN, BS, CNOR

GLEN FALLS HOSPITAL NY

This book is available from

PERIOPERAnVE STAFF NURSE

Internet Resources for

Nurses, second ed

Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, Kristen 5. Montgomew, eds

2003,448 pp $44.95 paperback

As a result of recent tech- nology, the amount of infor- mation available to health care

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