Book Review
Sleep Management in Nursing Practice: an Evidence-based guide
Kevin Morgan and S. Jose Closs
ISBN: 0-443059-19-5; 1999; Churchill Livingstone;
Sue DeVries
Nurse Researcher, Community Child Health Services, Brisbane Royal Childrens Hospital and Health Service District, QLD
With the current buzzword in health care being 'evidence-based practice', one could hardly pass up a title such as this one! The first chapter provides a hint of the nature of the text. There is scientific, research-based, background information for readers who are nurses. Nursing practice itself, on the other hand, is not often mentioned. This first chapter, for example, is entitled ' sleep in nursing practice' yet only two pages of text are dedicated to nursing. There is a questionnaire later in the chapter, presumably to determine what the reader knows, therefore encouraging further delving into the text.
It appears that the main aim of the book is to argue for the virtues of nurses knowing more about sleep and sleep research, which may well be an important background to improvements in nursing practice.
There are handy tables throughout the text showing nursing interventions related to the research evidence in sleep, making it a great reference text and an important read for undergraduates in nursing.
Chapter 2 does a great job of succinctly explaining the basics of epidemiology to the uninitiated. The epidemiology of insomnia is clearly described and some of the issues and problems related to measurement are articulated which leads neatly into the next chapter about causes and correlates of disturbed sleep. This chapter outlines the environmental and behavioural issues that have been researched and reports the findings of these studies in relation to disturbed sleep.
Chapters 4 to 10 outline management strategies for assisting individuals with insomnia, starting with an explanation of their structured approach and moving on to specific areas relating to sleep in each successive section. There are particular chapters covering sleep assessment, sleep hygiene, habits and learning, tension, thoughts and the use of hypnotics.
Those of us in child health have a particular interest in the section about sleep management with special groups, in particular, infants and children. The evidence in this area has been a little scarce on the ground. However, these authors have found some interesting research, some of which has contradictory findings but others that are very useful for those working with infants and young children. The inconsistent findings in this area indicate a need for more research in the area of sleep in infants and children.
This section also has useful information about sleep and the older person, people with psychiatric conditions and shift workers. The section on shiftwork leads neatly into the chapter about sleep across different environments and the problem associated with sleep in hospital, a matter of concern for all clinicians in hospitals.
This book would be an asset to any hospital or university school of nursing library. It is congruent with the current focus on evidence-based practice in nursing.
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