Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)As a nursing student, we used the 9th edition of this textbook as our primary resource for Med-Surg information. I had a strong love/hate relationship with that textbook (details to follow), and purchased this updated version after my copy of the 9th edition became damaged beyond practical use. This edition has many of the same strengths (and weaknesses) as the 9th edition, and I still believe with some editing, it could be a truly outstanding textbook. The 10th edition follows the lead of many other medical-surgical textbooks and split what had been a gigantic (read: backpack-breaking) volume into two separate bound volumes. This variation lands in both the "good" and "bad" columns (see below).
First, THE GOOD: It is unarguably EXHAUSTIVE in the depth of information presented, thus it makes an EXCELLENT reference material. The explanations of diseases, disorders, treatments, and techniques are clear and concise, albeit very dense. Don't expect to be able to skim anything here - absolutely every word seems necessary, no space is wasted. One can gain a great deal of confidence when one has absolute confidence in the validity of their textbook. Brunner & Suddarths projects that kind of reliability. The splitting of the text into two volumes improves the usability of this text for the simple reason that the previous edition was so huge and unwieldy that it was often left at home just for the sake of lumbar-saving convenience. This "improvement" has a dark side as well...
THE BAD: Such copious amounts of information require precise and meticulous organization, which Brunner & Suddarth's is sorely lacking. Though it does not take away from the validity of the information, you may initially have some difficulty finding what you're looking for. More than once I noticed a disease or disorder's definition out of chronological order in the chapter, located well after the text had referred to it several times. (I was often feeling quite lost and stupid when the book would mention something I'd never seen before, only to define it 30 pages later. Once I discovered that pattern, I knew to dig for definitions before continuing my studies.) The index often seems incomplete, as I often found myself wandering for a passage I had been studying earlier, searching until I stumbled on a passcode-like keyword. Occasionally, there is no cross-reference in the index at all. The "split" has only exacerbated the challenge. Inexplicably, the indexes do not fully reference the opposing volume, making the hunt even more daunting. It's prudent (and frustrating) to check both indexes prior to deciding which volume to crack open.
If you're a nursing student (first of all, GOOD LUCK! It's worth the trials!) or a RN who is looking for a great reference material for your profession, this textbook comes recommended. For most effective study, use it more like an encyclopedia than a standard narrative text.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Brunner and Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing (Textbook of Medical Surgical Nursing - 2-Vol Set (Brunner/Su)
Numerous updates and a state-of-the-art ancillary package make the Tenth Edition of this best-selling textbook the most up-to-date book of its kind. New chapters include: End-of-Life Care, Genetics Perspectives in Nursing Practice, and Management of Patients Affected by Terrorism, Mass Casualty, and Disaster. New features include: Concept Maps relating NANDA diagnoses with NIC and NOC classification systems; boxed charts alerting nurses to genetics perspectives in practice; and new, specialized content on elderly patients and those with disabilities.
A free CD-ROM in the text includes over 3,500 general student-study questions, 500 unit review questions, 3-dimensional animations that illustrate disease processes, and interactive clinical simulations covering asthma and congestive heart failure.
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