Book Review
The care of wounds-a guide for nurses
Carol Dealey
ISBN: 0 632 03864 0; 1994; 256 pages; Blackwell Scientific Publications Oxford;
Robyn Gallagher
Chronic and Complex Care, Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Technology, Sydney, Sydney NSW
In this text the author has set out to provide clear guidelines for consistent management of wounds for any nurse involved in wound care. The author also aims to clarify some of the major areas of confusion and controversy which have arisen over the last decade. To this end the author leads the reader through a maze of information, products and traditional practices which exist currently to produce clear, useful and realistic guidance for practising nurses.
The author begins with a summary of healing processes and a brief historical review which provides an excellent foundation for the discussion of dressing products and topical agents. The reader quickly realises that current wound care will also soon be part of history and possibly appear as ridiculous as the 'laudable pus' of the middle ages. As this text is set in the United Kingdom, several products and agents reviewed may not be available in Australia, however, the critique and review of the research on categories such as alginates is a useful guide.
Unfortunately, the large appendix (63 pages) on wound products adds little useful information. Throughout the text there is an emphasis on holistic nursing care and patient- centred care. This is particularly notable in a chapter detailing wound care for individual cases. With the inclusion of a range of charts and assessment guides this emphasis allows the reader to put the main elements of the text into practice quite easily. Curiously, the glossary and index are not very useful as both are minimal and missing a range of items.
In comparison to the text Acute and Chronic Wounds edited by Ruth Bryant some areas are over simplified and several issues such as the use of topical antiseptics in infected wounds or four layer compression bandages are barely mentioned. Also the author's gentle correction of traditional practices sometimes Simply seems to lack conviction. Nevertheless, I think Dealey has achieved the aim of providing clear, useful guidelines for everyday wound care.
She has also provided a rational debate on several important issues in wound management particularly in the final chapter. I would recommend this book for undergraduate students, registered nurses with a beginning interest in wound care and for use as a ward reference book. However, it is too basic and simplified for specialist nurses in wound care.
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