plain words for nurses: writing and communicating effectively by alison turnbull, the foundation of...
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The Medical Adventurerby James DyceStress Publications,Lavenham, 1999, 128 pages, £8á50,ISBN 0 950 82778 9.
Dr James Dyce is an eminent physicianand dentist, famous for his invention ofthe Dyce deep focus camera whichrevolutionized the recording of dentaldisasters and pictures deep into themouth and throat. He rose from humbleorigins in the North-east of Scotland toHarley Street, London where he livedand practised. The route to success wasclearly stressful as he has been writingabout stress since his retirement. How-ever, as anyone who has read his work,for example Stress, the Dilemma ofSuccess (Dyce 1982) will know, hisviews on the subject do not conform tothe usual theories and have not foundmuch publicity outside of his own pub-lishing company, the stable from whichthis book also comes.
Dr Dyce's modest assertion would bethat he cannot write English but thisbook proves otherwise: he is a veryengaging and entertaining writer. Hestrings together anecdotes in an almostdisjointed but readable manner. Thepresent book is a short autobiographywhich traces his professional career withthe thread of his Christian faith holdingit together. Early in his life met theOxford Group, later known as MoralRe-Armament (MRA), and this had aprofound in¯uence on his life. Whatremains of MRA is fairly vestigial butDr Dyce clearly remains committed tothe movement. The seeking of individu-alized `sound bite' guidance from Godon all daily matters, a basic tenet of theMRA creed, is not accepted by mosttheologians but Dr Dyce believes thatthis has guided his personal and profes-sional life. This book will not be on anybestseller lists but it is worth reading ±it's different!
Roger WatsonMedia Reviews Editor
Reference
Dyce J. (1982) Stress, the Dilemma ofSuccess. Stress Books, Lavenham.
Action Research in Health Careby Alison Morton-CooperBlackwell Science, Oxford, 2000, 114pages, £14á99, ISBN 0 632 04091 2.
The impetus for producing this book liesin Alison Morton-Cooper's struggle to®nd a practical and demystifying text onthe use of action research in healthcare.This book is an introduction to the use ofaction research geared at workers inhealthcare, using examples drawn fromnursing rather than the medical scienti®cmethod. The stated aim being to show therelevance of action research as a more¯exible vehicle for the active examinationof the problems of practice. The format ofthe book makes for ease of reference,highlighting central themes and pointingthe reader towards signi®cant texts,which further elucidate the points made.
The book is divided into four majorsections dealing speci®cally with theprocess of participating in or carryingout action research studies. These followa logical progression from why onechooses action research to constructingthe proposal, managing the project andwriting the report. Overall the content ismainly descriptive rather than analyt-ical. Some chapters have minimal sup-porting references and the content ispractically orientated which is relevantfor those preparing to undertake anaction research study. Where the bookreally does triumph is in the provision ofguidelines for critiquing action researchthus emphasizing the practical utility ofthe text. The content has been written inan easily understandable style. Thechapters are clearly presented andaccompanied by tables and bullet pointsthat are lucid and unambiguous. It is abook, which should certainly be avail-able in all nursing libraries.
Mary KempleUniversity College Dublin, Ireland
Plain Words for Nurses: Writing andCommunicating Effectivelyby Alison TurnbullThe Foundation of Nursing Studies,London, 2001, £6á50, (available fromhttp://www.fons.org/projects/plainwds.htm) ISBN: 0 954 00910 X.
Why do we ®nd it so hard to writeclearly? Information sheets for patientsand articles written for nursing journalsare often cringe-making because theyuse unnecessarily complicated words andsentences. And it's not just nurses ±we come across other examples every-day on signs and in publicity asking usto take out a bank loan or change ourcredit cards.
It is fashionable to blame trendyteaching methods but this is not thewhole story. Much of the problem isabout `impression management'. Inwriting, as in other parts of our lives,we try to create the impression that wethink other people expect. So lawyersthink their status and salaries will beimproved by a pompous style that onlythey can understand. Nurses writingpatient information lea¯ets probablydo not deliberately set out to do thistoo, but often the effect is the same. Weseem to think that patients will takemore notice of our advice if it is writtenin a supposedly more technical andprofessional style and journal editorswill think our article is more valuable ifwe use long words and sentences.
Plain Words for Nurses shows thatthis is completely wrong. People aremuch more likely to take what we writeseriously if it is easy to read. PlainWords for Nurses is full of examplesand tips on how to do exactly this. Thekey messages are: short words and sen-tences are always better than long ones,don't use jargon and avoid `¯annel' ± orwrapping things up in repetitions andwaf¯e. Use your word processor'sgrammar checker to remove faults,check your own work by reading it
814 Ó 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd
aloud, and ask a critical friend to com-ment.
I would like to add that it is useful toread through what you have written andremove the word `the' wherever poss-ible. You will be surprised how often weuse this when it is not needed. To helpwith this and solve awkward he/sheproblems, put things into the plural.`The nurse should give a clear informa-tion lea¯et to his/her patient' is better as`Nurses should give clear informationlea¯ets to patients'.
Plain Words for Nurses is a short buthighly informative book that is anexample of good writing skills. I havebeen able to give just a ¯avour of it inthis review. Buy it for yourself or yourworkplace ± it will soon pay its waywith grateful patients and acceptanceletters from journal editors!
Christine WebbEditor
The GP's Guide to PersonalDevelopment Plansby Amar RughaniRadcliffe Medical Press, Oxford, 2000,142 pages, £17á95, ISBN 1 857 75427 1.
If UK nurses think that they are alone inhaving to maintain a personal portfoliothen they should read this book. Tradi-tionally, GPs have not had to undergosuch formal postregistration educationrelying instead on quite poor postbasictraining and, certainly, never having had
to demonstrate that they had learnedanything. However, times are changingand revalidation ensures that GPs willhave better postbasic training and thatthey will have to record this systematic-ally. This book is an excellent, clear andconcise introduction to the concept.It also provides concrete examples ofhow this can be achieved.
Essentially, the process is self-drivenand, using Kolb's learning cycle oflearning, application and refection asa model, the author has provided anexcellent framework for busy GPs. It issuitable for the busy GP because theprocess is driven by re¯ection on prac-tice. Using PUNs (patient unmet needs),DENs (doctor's educational needs) andSEAs (signi®cant event analysis)Rughani explains how to put these intopractice usefully. In fact, the processcould easily be put to very good use bynurses and educationalists in their ownprofessional development and registra-tion maintenance.
Roger WatsonMedia Reviews Editor
Midwifery, Mind & Spiritby Jennifer HallButterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 192pages, £14á99, ISBN 0 750 64297 1.
This book is well written and presentedand will be of interest to practitioners,educationalists and students. There are12 chapters, which explore emerging
issues of care. A number of exemplarcases are included which illustrate verywell, how spirituality could be integra-ted into all aspects of midwifery care.The author poses a number of ques-tions to the reader throughout the bookwhich prompt re¯ection from a personaland professional viewpoint. Chapter 12is entitled Where do we go from here?The author considers the way forwardand the future whilst discussing thelimitations of the book which include®rstly, the lack of research and litera-ture related to the spiritual care andspirituality of pregnant women; andsecondly, the need to base the informa-tion on American sources and nursingresearch.
I have to confess that I was somewhatsceptical when asked to review thisbook and I think that the book willreceive a mixed reaction. I found the®rst chapter and part of the secondchapter quite dif®cult to read but onlybecause I probably ®nd spirituality dif-®cult to relate to. However as I contin-ued to read I could relate to the specialrelationship some midwives and womenhave and how this can enhance the careof the woman and her family. By the endof the book I felt that I had learnt thingsabout myself and developed anincreased awareness of `spiritual' mid-wifery care.
Anne-Marie SteeleUniversity of Hull, UK
Ó 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 36(6), 814±815 815
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