Supportive Care for the Renal Patient or Breast Cancer

Supportive Care for the Renal Patient(Supportive Care Series)

Author: E Joanna Chambers

This book provides a comprehensive, evidence-based overview of supportive care for the nephrology patient. An international group of contributors emphasize the continuum of palliative care from the time of diagnosis through to end-of-life care and the issues surrounding withdrawal of dialysis. The book addresses the psychological impact of the disease, the importance of involving the patient in making decisions about their care, ethical considerations, the role of the family and the multidisciplinary team.
This book will be of particular interest to palliative medicine and pain consultants; nephrologists; who increasingly need to know more about palliative care; nurse practitioners; dialysis nurses, social workers, dieticians, and psychiatric consultants.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: Mony Fraer, MD (University of Kentucky College of Medicine)
Description: This book appears to be the first to address not only chronic kidney disease, but also the patient as a whole and as a person with a final goal of improving quality of life. It also emphasizes the need for a multidisciplinary team approach in order to achieve this goal.
Purpose: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) suffer from depression, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, and chronic pain, problems that are usually perceived as secondary by the caretakers. This book addresses these problems comprehensively.
Audience: This book is written for nephrologists, nurses, and social workers who take care of CKD patients. The social workers will find useful the chapters on palliative care programs, advanced directives and advance care planning, and support of the home dialysis patients.
Features: Many subjects covered in this book are not formally taught to nephrologists, including initiation and withdrawal of dialysis, end of life care, the time-limited trial of dialysis, evaluation of a request to stop dialysis, and the palliative care option. A special emphasis is placed on the spiritual care and the psychological aspects of renal disease. The chapters are constructed around case scenarios, making the reading more interesting and providing a connection with the problems encountered in real life. Out of all the excellent tables in the book, the ones that I found very helpful were: "Guidelines for the care of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are in the last days of life in hospital" and the ones that outline the management of dialysis and ESRD-related symptoms.
Assessment: This is a valuable and useful book. It addresses topics not formally taught and often neglected in the nephrology community. The authors are experts in the field. I initially misjudged the book by an apparently unappealing title, but I found it to be extremely interesting and useful. I think it should be included in the core curriculum of every nephrology program.

Rating

3 Stars from Doody

Table of Contents:

	Introduction to ethical case analysis
1	Changing patterns of renal replacement therapy	1
2	The concept of supportive care for the renal patient	15
3	Planning a renal palliative care programme and its components	27
4	Advance directives and advance care planning in patients with end-stage renal disease	35
5	What determines a good outcome? : the selection of patients for renal replacement therapy	45
6	Health-related quality of life in chronic renal failure	63
7	(Part 1) Symptoms of renal disease : dialysis related symptoms	75
7	(Part 2) Symptoms of renal disease : the treatment and palliation of symptoms due to co-morbidity in end-stage renal disease	95
8	Management of pain in renal failure	105
9	Psychological and psychiatric considerations in patients with advanced renal disease	155
10	Sexual dysfunction in patients with chronic kidney disease	177
11	Spiritual care of the renal patient	191
12	Support of the home dialysis patient	207
13	Initiation and withdrawal of dialysis	221
14	A multidisciplinary approach to end-of-life care	231
15	End of life	247

New interesting book: Oysters or Fondue

Breast Cancer

Author: Michael Baum

The new edition of this popular guide has been updated to include many innovative developments in the primary and secondary prevention of breast cancer. New surgical techniques are described together with the promising results of adjuvant systemic therapy trials, which have demonstrated prolonged survival rates in patients treated during early stages of the disease. New biological insights into the nature of breast cancer are also described. The book retains its relatively simple style and is an ideal resource for patients and their families.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer: Melody L McKinney, DNS, RN (Indiana State University)
Description: As the care management of breast cancer patients is being assumed more often by general practitioners, and patients are taking a more active role, easily accessible high-quality informational resources are needed to facilitate decision-making. This third edition handbook of "fast facts" on breast cancer contains practical advice on topics such as cancer risk education, diagnosis and treatment of primary cancer, rehabilitation, and care of patients with advanced disease. Written by two world experts on breast cancer, this expanded and updated edition also includes information on breast cancer genetics, hormone replacement therapy, and findings from recent major clinical trials.
Purpose: According to the authors, the book is designed to provide cancer care practitioners rapid access to information for helping patients sort out the "facts" from "fancies and fallacies" when weighing the risks and benefits of various treatment options.
Audience: The targeted audience is cancer care clinicians, including clinical nurse specialists.
Features: The book includes a brief introduction and seven chapters addressing a broad range of issues related to cancer epidemiology, perception of risk, pathophysiology, diagnosis, primary tumor control, adjuvant therapy, HRT, follow-up and rehabilitation, management of advanced cancer, clinical trials, and future trends. Numerous colorful tables and figures enhance the presentation of content. Each chapter ends with highlighted lists of key points and references. An index and a page of useful addresses for resources in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia are also provided.
Assessment: This well-referenced, well-indexed handbook provides succinct, current, and practical information on breast cancer and its management. The expertise of two world authorities on breast cancer is used to achieve the goal of presenting cutting-edge information related to advances in the understanding of cancer, its causes and treatment. The content is broad in scope, pertinent, and well-written and should achieve the authors' goal of providing rapid access to information that will facilitate the complex task of interpreting new data and treatments as clinicians guide patients in weighing the risks and benefits of various treatment options and making informed decisions.

Rating

4 Stars! from Doody