John Marx
MD, Formerly Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Chair Emeritus, Department of Emergency Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Robert Hockberger
MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Chair Emeritus, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California
Ron Walls
MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Elsevier Saunders
Philadephia
ISBN:978-1-4557-0605-1
Type and scope of book
This is large two volume textbook 8th edition textbook. This has always been a two volume book due to depth and variety of topic areas in emergency medicine. It is a improved updated text from the previous edition. The Rosen’s Emergency Medicine textbook is a classic proven player on the market. A book that most emergency physicians have read when studying for exams. It is a market leader in it’s depth and scope of examination of emergency medicine practice.
Contents
The book breaks down to 7 Parts and then further broken down to sections and then all 197 chapters.
Part I Fundamental Clinical Concepts
Section 1 Critical Management Concepts
Section 2 Cardinal Presentations
Part II Trauma
Section 1 General Concepts
Section 2 System Injuries
Section 3 Orthopaedic Lesions
Section 4 Soft Tissue Injuries
Section 5 Violence and Abuse
Part III Medicine and Surgery
Section 1 Head and Neck Disorders
Section 2 Pulmonary System
Section 3 Cardiac System
Section 4 Vascular System
Section 5 Gastrointestinal System
Section 6 Genitourinary and Gynecological System
Section 7 Neurology
Section 8 Psychiatric and Behavioral Disorders
Section 9 Immunologic and Inflammatory
Section 10 Hematology and Oncology
Section 11 Metabolism and Endocrinology
Section 12 Infectious Diseases
Part IV Environment and Toxicology
Section 1 Environment
Section 2 Toxicology
Part V Special Populations
Section 1 Pediatric
Section 2 The Pregnant Patient
Section 3 The Geriatric Patient
Section 4 The Patient with Compromised Immune Function
Section 5 The Patient with a Organ Transplant
Section 6 The Alcoholic and Substance Abuse Patient
Section 7 The Developmentally or Physically Disabled Patient
Section 8 The Problem Patient
Part VI Emergency Medical Services
Part VII The Practice of Emergency Medicine
Strengths
This is a massive book the covers the enormity of scope of practice disaplines that emergency medicine covers. The 2 books coverage of all the aspects of emergency medicine and nursing is impressive in its attempt. The books covers all fields in detail. The sections and covered individually in great detail. This makes you feel like you are reading several books within one book.
The books sections and chapters are placed in a order that allows for easy access and reference to desired information. This makes it a useful clinical companion that can be used in the department for clinical reference. This a colour coded for easy access and quick reference.
The book follows a predictably pattern within the chapters that makes reading logical. Treatments are evaluated for effectiveness that is current to 2014 published research. The book is well referenced with the latest large accepted research studies referred too for evidence to practice, even if the references can only be found on-line.
The pathophysiology sections of the injury and disease is written in a easy to digest format. The language used is appropriate for the level of understanding that the reader needs to understand to disease or injury process and appropriate treatment plans. This ease of language is continued and allows the reader to build and extend knowledge in the chapters.
The book has a honesty that when the research is not there to support practice it highlights this. This allows the reader to understand research in action to currency of practice. It also highlights area of future research in emergency medicine.
There are great photos that are well labels to support the text. The photos are very clear in focus. The photos are in colour that focuses on attention to details the reader needs to understand and experience. This makes the book is both factual and entertaining due to the high quality graphics in the drawings and photos.
There are many grafts and tables in the book. Many are classics from previous series giving the book a timeless feel to previous information form previous editions. There are also new tables and grafts reflecting new approaches and new ideas.
The 2 book hard back series makes it a durable number for the hard knocks of the clinical area. The 2 book format makes it safer and easier to carry than a even larger 1 series book. It has a attractive cover that stands out nicely on the bookshelf.
The book also focused on area that other books of similar approach have not previously covered. Some of these are available on the on-line section. Street gangs, multiculturalism, impaired physician, bioethics, solid organ transplant.
The 8th edition is a book that you have trust. A book that stands the test of time from the success of its previous editions. Most emergency practitioner of medicine and nursing have seen and relied on knowledge from a old edition in their department. This new edition is a excellent update.
Weaknesses
Sometimes treatment plans that open to interpretation just work. In reality these do not work or have degrees of effectiveness. The preface does attempt to answer this criticism by saying all cases are individual and different.
The world of the emergency nurse or medical officer is often called a jack of all and master of none. All chapters in the book have publications for the specialist practitioner. These contain more details than this or any other purely emergency medicine practitioner publication could ever have.
This reviewer is interested in the use of high flow nasal prongs in medicine and trauma. This book contained no reference to this current therapy. Although this is current therapy in many department for a variety of uses in pre-intubation oxygenation, COPD and rib fractures. I would hope in 4 years time this new therapy will be examined.
The on-line access to the books references makes it difficult to access the valid studies the the book makes its statements of best practice. Although this can be accessed on-line many readers of this book will not be the orginal buyer of the book. Library and department practitioners will not have access to this information as they will not have the appropriate code. This takes away the from the book and any book using this format of referencing.
Recommended Readership
All emergency nurses will be entised to buy this publication. It is a book that the novice and the experianced practitioner can learn from.
It is a book that should be availiable in the clinical area for daily reference sort. The large scale approach in subject matter will find it used widely as it can be used to source information in so many areas and disaplines.
Libraries and Emergency department around the world will be interested in purchaseing this classic 8th edition. It is a book that is highly recommended to read and learn from. This is a book that would be high on any ones ir department wishlist of refernce materials.
Overall rating
The 8th edition has been a success that has built on the previous editions well. It timelessness is only achieved by keeping it up to date with current practice and research into the success of the currently accepted best practices.
Rosen’s Emergency Medicine is a excellent book that keeps improving with every edition. The new edition has colour and highlights form its layout, format, information presentation, photos, graphes and tables. It is a exciting read that informs and entertains.
It is book that is highly recommended for all emergency department practitioners. It is a book that many will read for direct reference for clinical assistance. In turn many patients will benefit for the correct knowledge that their practitioner will practice on them.