Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-19 of 19
 Impressive August 26, 2004
Atheen M. Wilson (Mpls, MN United States)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
As a nurse I have worked in PACU for a couple of years, but it was only after reading through this book, temporarily abandoned on a table in the unit by one of the residents, that I realized of how much about the subject I was quite ignorant. I decided to remedy the deficiency by reading more on the topic. Although we had a number of books on the nursing aspect of anesthesia, I found that most of them bogged me down in things I really didn't need to know to do my job. It was interesting to learn about the demographics of PACU nurses or about the amount of space needed for each patient bed, for instance, but it wasn't really helpful. I decided to purchase the book the resident had been reading, Anesthesia Secrets. I wasn't disappointed.
Although there is a lot of information about the field of medical anesthesia for which a nurse is not ultimately responsible, it is certainly useful to have that knowledge, as it specifically underlies patient care decisions. It also helps make one aware of the adverse outcomes that may arise from anesthesia and what to look for to prevent them. As in ICU, perhaps even more so than in ICU, the nurse has considerable decision making autonomy, and it is important that his/her background be adequate to undertake the responsiblity. In general, I found this book was much more pertinent to what I was actually doing in PACU than nursing books were.
I also found the volume helpful specifically to me, as I spent about a year as the PACU's night nurse, and one of the components of my job was the scrutiny of patient labs for irregularities prior to surgery. It helped to know those specific labs that were important to anesthesiology, what their normals were, and what lower (or higher) limits were acceptable for the OR. Levels that might not be of over riding significance to a particular service, such as BMT for instance, might prove important to the OR and be a cause for dropping the patient from the schedule.
Well worth the money. I was very impressed.
 Anesthesia Secrets March 20, 2004
Griggsby Wright, MD (New Mexico/Arizona)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
I have used this book, periodically, since my CA-1 year, and I find the material to be useful as an adjunct, or supplementation, in my studies for my anesthesiology boards.You should not use this book alone to learn the art and science of anesthesiology, as the discipline requires a voluminous amount of study to be a safe and competent practitioner. This book, however, is good for it's intended use by the Author, James Duke, MD, University of Colorado, by taking a large amount of knowledge and making it digestable for practical scenarios. Solid references and bibliographies make this a reliable resource.
Excellent Summary of Most Important topics in Anesthesia April 8, 2001
Elder Statesman Doctor (KS, USA)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
I owned the first edition of this book during medical school while taking a rotation in Anesthesiology, and it was an INVALUABLE aid! I could find many answers to questions I was "pimped" on during the rotation, which were hard or impossible to find in the standard large text books. I highly recommend it to anyone doing a rotation in, planning on going into, or working in and around Anesthesiologists! An absolutely wonderful book, buy it!
A book everyone in anesthesia should have May 27, 2000
Wendy Miller (Houston, Texas)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
Where you can get the "MEAT" of each area without reading a lot of miscellaneous information.
Showing reviews 16-19 of 19
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