and would it work here? For anyone engaged in healthcare, whether

as a practitioner, manager, planner or researcher, this book should

be freely available. To all those undertaking healthcare educational

courses, the book should be recommended reading. I have no

hesitation in recommending this as an essential text to all

undergraduate and postgraduate students.

BRIAN MILLAR

Lecturer in Nursing Studies

School of Nursing and Midwifery

University of Wales College of Medicine

Cardiff

Information for Evidence-based Care by Ruth Roberts.

Harnessing health Information Series edited by Mike Rigby.

1999. Radcliffe Medical Press, Oxon. ISBN 1 85775 356 0. 74

pp. £15.95.

This slim volume is written as part of a series covering the

expanding area of healthcare informatics. As the book is written by a

very experienced and knowledgeable nurse with a great deal of

experience of computerization and health information technology, I

looked forward to reading it. The author has attempted to provide a

comprehensive account of the subject, beginning with the history of

evidence-based care, moving to a brief review of current NHS

policy, then concentrating on What is evidence? Where to ®nd it?

and How to appraise the evidence? The ®nal chapters focus on

clinical audit and clinical guidelines.

Each chapter is clearly written and logically presented. The

content is informative though rather brief. In the preface to the

edition, Mike Rigby, the series the editor, states that the purpose of

this new series is to help people harness health information. As

such, Ruth Roberts' book serves as an introduction to the subject

and the series. As a brief overview of the subject, it is useful in

acquainting readers quickly and effectively with the main themes

and ideas. To the student of health information, or anyone working

in healthcare information or healthcare technology, the book offers a

summary of background details. For the serious reader, however, it

falls far short of the mark. It is unclear at whom the book is aimed,

though perhaps it may serve to introduce undergraduate students to

the important developments and motivate them to search out more

detailed texts on the subject.

Given the increased importance of evidence-based practice in

healthcare, I have no doubt this introductory text will prove popular

with students. At 74 pages long, no-one should ®nd the task of

reading it too taxing. While it is a good introduction, the book will

prove to be best as a resource leading to further in-depth reading

and exploration of the subject.

BRIAN MILLAR

Lecturer in Nursing Studies

School of Nursing and Midwifery

University of Wales College of Medicine

Heath Park

Cardiff

Numb Toes and Aching Soles: Coping with Peripheral

Neuropathy by J. A. Senneff. 1999. Medpress, San Antonio,

TX, USA. ISBN 0 9671 1107 2 6. 257pp. £20.00.

This is an attractively presented hardback book with an intriguing

title and a pair of feet on the cover.

The author is a retired lawyer and a sufferer from peripheral

neuropathy who has written for sufferers, their families and friends.

Information gleaned from the Internet, neurologists, other practi-

tioners, patients and people in the medical industry has been

reviewed, and the most relevant and interesting is presented in this

book. It is written in a no-nonsense conversational style.

It comprises nine chapters and ®nal notes, and addresses what

peripheral neuropathy is and how you get it, pain medication, other

medical treatments, alternative therapies, nutrients, experimental or

`unapproved' drugs, diabetes, HIV and coping. It includes many

patient experiences and comments. Disclaimers concerning claims

about treatment punctuate the text.

It is a very helpful book for patients, their families and friends,

although the extent to which British patients are prepared to take

responsibility for their own health problems may be different to

patients in America. However, the medical stranglehold on health in

this country may be weakening in the light of recent high pro®le cases.

This is a useful book for all nurses because of its patient focus. It

will enable nurses to understand the physical and psychological

impact of peripheral neuropathy on patients and their carers. Nurses

working with older people in the community, in residential care

settings and in hospitals will ®nd the pain descriptions helpful and

the information on medications available to patients instructive. The

chapter on alternative therapies, including prayer, may stimulate

innovative and creative thought and practice.

LYNNE MARCER MN, SRN, RSCN, RCNT, FETC

Independent lecturer/practitioner

Gloucester

UK

Nursing Roles. Evolving or Recycled? by S. Moorhead & D.

Gardner Huber. 1997. Series on Nursing Administration 9. Sage

Publications Inc., CA, USA. ISBN 0 7619 0149 3. 286pp. £26.00.

This book is the ninth in a series on `nursing administration' and the

declared aim of the text is to `give nursing administrators new

information on current and emerging issues'. It contains 13 chapters

written by expert authors (i.e. distinguished nurse administrators,

educators and researchers). The language of the text re¯ects its

cultural origin and the values of its healthcare system. The chapters

cover:

· The role and function of nursing in a seamless continuum of care;

· Ethical issues for nurse administrators in a changing environment

with evolving roles;

· The entrepreneurial nurse;

· Nurses as policy analysts and advocates; avoiding lessons already

learned;

· The evolving role of the informatics nurse;

· Nurses' changing and emerging roles with the use of unlicensed

assisting personnel;

· Increasing access to healthcare;

· Life care nursing management in long-term care;

Ó 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 10, 154±157

Book reviews 155