Critical-Care Books

Despite the fact that this text was written ten years ago the die hard facts remain pertinent to the CCU, ICU, PACU patient of today. I am a third year medical student interested in Critical Care and in this competitive world of medicine, a book like this is a necessity. I found mine in a used book store and I will never give it up. In fact, I am buying it as a Christmas present for my best friend. Anyone in the field of medicine should get this text; the way that the pathophysiology is laid out is brilliant. To be honest, this may be the only text you need you second and third year of medical school... this is only a slight exageration...I PROMISE!!!!!!!!

As a student physician with a deep interest in Critical Care Medicine, I've been reading textbooks on the subject whenever I am able to get my hands on any of them. This one is an old book, published in 1992, and I found it in my med school library.

My verdict: A classic. It explains, from the foundations up, the physiological and pathophysiological bases of Critical care medicine, in a way I have not found matched (or even approached) in ANY text on the subject. It is a shame that this book is no longer in print. What concise brilliance, what pedagogical excellence...

The only drawback, now, is that 10 years after it was written the therapeutic recommendations will, obviosly, be a bit out of date. And yet... what a book.

As a nursing student that aspires to work in ICU, this book is the "whip"! It explains procedures and processes in an easy to digest fashion and the illustrations are great. Another plus is that this book doesn't weigh 60 lbs like most text books.

Just graduated nursing school (yey!) and this is the best textbook that I have read. Information is condensed and straight-to-the-point, which is exactly what one needs for critical care nursing. Text is easy to read and to follow. An excellent textbook for those doing ICU nursing.

haven't read the whole book yet, but it's a requirement for my class so i needed it. other than that, it came fast and about $15 cheaper than bookstores.

I am an EMT (soon to be medic) who just started working on the night shift a couple months ago. It was an eye opener to get call after call for overdoses and to see the variety of drugs used. This guide helped me in determining which drugs could cause potential damage and at what doses. About half of the guide is a large list of prescription meds and there drug class. Next is a section explaining different drug classes (corticosteroids, benzos, narcotics, and so on). In these sections it gives a list of drugs that fit in the class, the effects of an overdose on that drugs, the toxicology, and what signs and symptoms might be present in a person who overdosed on that drug. The next section is "Clinical Differentials". It starts with the signs and symptoms and helps you identify what drugs are capable of causing the symptom. The guide also gives minimum lethal dosages of many drugs (for a 150 lb. person). It explains the dangers and lethal dosages of various abused substances. It has a list of antidotes to certain substances. That is just the basics of this guide and there is a lot more. I am very happy with the buy and got a lot more than I was expecting. My only worry is that it is going to get worn out very quickly sitting in pocket for 12 hour shifts. Still highly recommended.

The EMS Medication Pocket Field Guide by Dillman is a monster in comparison to the LaSage ALS EMS Field Guide. It's nearly twice as thick and a touch wider (7/8" thick x 3 1/4" wide x 6 1/4" (including spiral which is 1 3/16" diameter) vs. LaSage at (<7/16 thick x 3 wide x 5 5/8" tall). Dillman's is too big to make it into my uniform shirt pocket where the LaSage fits acceptably.
However, it has listings for roughly twice the prescription meds (~3400 vs. 1600) and a much heavier focus on toxicology. Half of the guide (113 of 207 pages) is devoted to the prescription meds, and it is in the same style as LaSage except that there is no mention of generic names in the trade name listings, and vice-versa. About 60 pages are devoted to description of the different drug classes. There's a nice pharmacological differentials section that lists potential pharmacological causes for different SxS, as well as other perks such as a slightly more thorough lab value section. This makes a great supplement to LaSage. Contrary to what you might guess from the title, there's no generic formulary section (which in my opinion is good given the supplementary role that this guide fills).
They put some time into creating this, and it was a worthwhile purchase. Hopefully in future versions they will make it more compact, taking out a lot of the unused white space, and do little things such as round the corners, improve the indexing some, and add cross referencing between trade and generic names, all of which I'd be willing to pay a touch more for. In summary, if you are at all frustrated by the incompleteness of the drug listings or the lack of toxicology in LaSage, Dillman's is a valuable guide.

Excellent for review course when failing FL NCLEX-RN (test). Book in excellent condition and fast service

Fundamental Nursing textbook that includes good coverage of all critical areas along with case studies, study questions, and vocabulary. Would be appropriate for the nurse to be or as a refresher for the experienced nurse.

I think is a good book, and provide a good aproach to many process in the intensive care. Its usseful for residents and for a quick consult.

thank you, and please excuse me for may english

Fantastic book that is easy to read and understand in terms of the ventilator, would recommend it to anyone beginning with the ventilator and wishing to understand more about what they are doing.

I am a 3rd semester nursing student and I really found this book helpful. I was tired of reading my stale textbook so I read this book. It covered every aspect you need to know on the physiology of heart failure, assessment findings, treatment; it had quick quizzes, and many great animations. I recommend this book to all nursing students studying heart failure.

This easy-to-read pocketguide is well written and visually appealing - making it a good quick read and effective reference tool. From drug charts and quick quizzes to patient exam techniques and recognizing heart failure complications this book covers the bases. I appreciated the section on "getting connected" that directed me to some good heart failure websites for professionals and for patients.

As a Clinical Oncology Resident, I needed a practical guide to review toxicities expected, forms of administration and basic properties of chemotherapeutic drugs. That's exactly what I found in this book.This is not an exhaustive monograph text, and basic aspects(cell cycle, theories of CT, etc) are only summarized. But for the clinician, and for all those who need a quick reference when working at a Day Hospital, this is the right book.

This easy to read clearly written book serves as a guide for quick reference for the clinical oncologist. It summarizes the indications, the drug combinations and the expected side-effects. It is a resource for the busy practice.

It is a great summary for those with some epidemiology and statistical background. Good for those in the research field!

A very good book for critical appraisal. Easy to read with loads of funny examples. A few typo's with one or two graphics but on the whole, well worth it.

I am an LPN student that was totally afraid of med-surg, but this book really broke it down where it all made sense to me! The nursing diagnoses are written in order of importance, and made creating a care plan easy!

good book, received in a timely manner and the price was good.

This is the book I needed for my class and it arrived in excellant condition. Very fast shipping - arrived 2 weeks before my class started!

I was under the impression that the book came with the MyNursingLab code, since it was in the series, but I was mistaken. I had to buy it separately, which was more than half the cost of the book. I was disappointed, but other than that, I use the book everyday and it is full of excellent information.