Open Books

The Art and Science of Mental Health Nursing: a textbook of principles and practice.
Ian Norman and Iain Ryrie (Eds)
Maidenhead. Open University Press.
Aug 2004 p847
ISBN: 0 335 21242 5 (pbk): ₤24.99
ISBN: 0 335 21588 2 (hbk) ₤80.00


I must admit to a certain bias in advancing a review on this book. Having been professionally socialized during one's early formative years on Stuart and Sundeen's excellent `Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing' I am loathed to refer to other key mental health nursing texts, especially those that highlight `principles and practice' with some coming way short of the benchmark already set. Those prejudices were soon dispelled as this edited paperback copy soon propelled me into an impressive and comprehensive array of perspectives on contemporary mental health nursing by many excellent contributions.

The two editors-Sir Ian Norman-Professor of Nursing and Inter-Disciplinary Care & Head of Mental Health Services at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery and Iain Ryrie, Head of Research at the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health have assembled an excellent cast of eminent clinicians and academic contributors to illuminate and illustrate newer developments in mental health nursing thinking and practice from UK policy and service perspectives.

The book is divided neatly into five sections each providing particular emphasis to aid the student nurse or practitioner on various aspects of mental health nursing. Part of the beauty of the book is that each of the sections is succinctly and coherently considered to add to the debates and discussions on what is considered challenging within current practice. The collections of questions for reflection and discussion which follow each chapter provide an excellent resource for teaching and learning either for individual or group levels. Annotated bibliographies and well stocked reference lists add further to its richness.

One shortcoming if one has to quibble with, has to be the minimal attention given to an effective review or to the consideration of ideas from gender and cultural perspectives on mental health and ill health. One feels that the attempt made on these issues have been cursory to say the least.

Generally the book is easy to read. Most points are well illustrated with abundant bullet points to make the materials exposed palatable to the eye and mind. Focus has been maintained throughout to the needs of current professional practice and should be an excellent purchase for all mental health nurses and a very good read for other professional groups.

Part one (1) provides a context by highlighting the past and clarifying the contemporary with regards to changing views and ideas about psychological distress, mental health nursing and legal/ethical frameworks.

Subsequent parts from two to four (2-4) delve into the practicalities for everyday nursing situations under such headings as: Interventions, Applications and Core Procedures thereby suggesting a basis for anyone looking for evidence based practice with several user based vignettes.

Interpretations of several policy and service issues have been highlighted with succinct recommendations for mental health nursing which the reader could easily understand and adopt into practice. These include key UK NHS initiatives enshrined under the guise of the NHS Plan which include NICE and NSF. There is even a section on the `economics of atypical antipsychotic' (p319) as if to remind the reader of the sometimes harsh realities of modern economics on health care especially one that relies at times on the use of pharmacological interventions to alleviate mental ill health and distress. Perhaps there is a challenge in there too for the mental health nurse practitioner.

A challenge too has also been posed albeit at a brief level towards the entrenched positions adopted by the subjective-objective camps to reconsider their positions and adopt multiple views and arrangements thereby laying the foundations for the consideration of user focused and user sensitive care that views `capable users...who are well informed about mental health and mental health services at the centre of their care..." (p 103). Impressive stuff indeed.

Part five (5) headed by Steve Onyett sets out to explain and interpret the `team' concept, perhaps quite significantly espousing the current predilection for collaborative working in the many arenas of mental health care and which the mental health nurse is called upon to be an active member of. The remit for education within this sphere has been raised with some interesting observations made on "professional self-determination and diversity of role... thus placing an imperative for lifelong learning and the interdependent nature of education and training" (p811).

The editors' end with a final chapter in discussing several reflections by attempting to revisit their objectives for the book as based on the three themes of "national policy, service user expectations and professional diversity". They have achieved these objectives by a considerable margin where the argument for an integrative approach to mental health nursing have been equally aided and abetted by their well chosen contributors.


Roland S Kandiah
RMN, SRN, DipN, Cert Ed (FE), BEd (Hons), MSc
School of Mental Health & Learning Disabilities
University of the West of England (Bristol).

This teaches you how to make people learn, not how to teach! I am a doctor, this is about Primary School teaching - best book I have ever read for learning to help students and doctors to learn! Go on, break out of your silo you doctors! Brilliant stuff - read it on one night and change your teaching forever

Sixteen essays by contributors who add a dose of philosophical reflection into the Atkins diet controversy will appeal to both pro and con diet readers. They come from practitioners of the diet, those not on it, and those who want little to do with it. It's more philosophical observation than diet plan - but any interested in Atkins and philosophy alike will find here an intriguing ability to link philosophical thinking to modern culture.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This brilliantly illustrated atlas has been totally revised and updated. It depicts both open and endonasal approaches to rhinoplasty. Chapters have been logically arranged beginning with surgical anatomy and proceeding through the analysis of more sophisticated problems. The latest surgical techniques are included and shown in a clear, step-by-step progression. Numerous pre- and postoperative illustrations document the excellent results that can be acheived with these techniques. Dr. Aiach's thoughtful explanations combined with the excellent operative sequences and artistic renderings that accompany each technical description assist the reader in understanding the nuances of these procedures.

Table of Contents:

External Transcolumellar Approach
Other Surgical Approaches and Techniques for Surgery of the Nasal Tip
Deviated Noses
Augmentation Rhinoplasty of the Dorsum and Root
Functional Grafts, the Middle Vault, nad Alar Collapse
Grafts of the Nasal Tip and Columella

Secondary Rhinoplasties

Ajzen summarize the actual literature of attitudes and personality (measurement and applies) in a comprehensive book. I recommend!

Very impressed with Amazon. The post office delivered my package to the wrong house. I called Amazon and they shipped out another package so that I could get it before Christmas. The book actually arrived by DHL on that Sunday the 23rd. It was great ordering from a company who truly puts customer service first!

This book is truly a wonderful resource for homeschooling families. I use a variety of materials, but there's always room for more, and I'm so glad I picked this book--what a value! The ideas in this book are really engaging and age-appropriate. Plus there are TONS of activities and topics to choose from in the English sections. The math is great too because I can give the lessons and problems to my son to work on independently while I work with my younger daughter on her lessons. A great deal. What's next -- social studies and science? I hope so! Thanks.

I see so many books come across my desk but this one really struck me. Patricia has crafted an open and honest roadmap for how to work with an open adoption that includes the thoughts and feelings of all members of the adoption triad. From the adoptive parent who doesn't want to "loose" their child to another mother, to how to balance a child who is angry with one parent and wants to run to the other.

This honest and compelling memoir will help you understand the road of open adoption, the pitfalls and the joys that come from extending the circle of love and making your family that much more inclusive. Openness is truly the best way for our adopted children and Patricia reminds us that the good relationships take work, honesty and trust. I hope this book will help more families open relationships and extend that circle of family love to all that need to be included. Thanks for the wonderful tools, Patricia!

In today's academic environment it is absolutely necessary to publish the results of one's research. At the same time, the researcher probably has not concentrated on English during his education or has forgotten what he was taught. Further while these classes might have taught proper grammer, they did not teach the fundamental rules of writing for publication, finding the right publications, and selling your work to the publisher.

This book covers publishing your work in journals, newspapers and of course books. It concentrates on the traditional forms of publishing for the most part. There is only a small amount on publishing on the web or on self publishing which has become much more viable with new short run printing/binding technologies combined with the growth of Amazon as a major force in book distribution.

On the whole, this book gives a good solid foundation on the practical aspects of publishing. It is written by acomplished authors who have been down the path many times. It speaks of experience in the real world, not just the academic world.

The secrets to a good technical book, especially one that is comprehensive is organization and clarity. I found this book to be lacking in those regards. The material needs to be organized better, motivated better and the book as a whole could be more accessible. Note that if you was DIS-organized Python material there is a ton of information on the web. For Python in particular, the secret to a good book is not listing all the hodge-podge of neat modules, but providing a coherent and sensible story for how all they stuff fits together. I think other books do that better.

I bought this book based on an abundance of positive reviews and I was not disappointed. Hetland is not only a gifted writer, he is able to portray most of the concepts using entertaining examples mixed in with appropriate humor. Some of the reviews have mentioned that the book goes beyond what the average reader would want to know. While this is true, I was delighted by the extra chapters dealing with a wide range of subjects including networking and extending Python. They gave me the ability to learn about some of these topics and how Python can be used in a variety of applications. However, the beginning chapters of this book are the real selling point. The clear descriptions, fun examples, and generous coverage of important aspects of the Python language are well worth the cost.

Together with the same author's on-line tutorials, this book is a good introduction. Again, the main concepts and useful ideas are introduced in the first few chapters, but if you know nothing about programming this may become hard to follow after a while.
The author suggests the reader to stop when it's becoming hard to follow, practice writing programs, and then come back to the book when familiarized with more programming. In a way, I find this very honest. I think this is much better than the "... for dummies" competition. The book is completed by 10 practical projects showing mainly how to implement Python for GUI, communication, file managing, and so on... I have yet to find a good introductory book on Python for science, but I have found several on-line documents complementing the book.

Altogether, I recommend this for readers with some knowledge in Java/Perl and object-oriented programming languages.

This is a very good Python Book. Simple for the novice and, at the same time, complete for the medium skill programmer.
Some chapter are long and with many information that probably aren't interesting for all readers.
However, it's a very good book that teach Python and explain to the reader some basic concepts of good programming and computer science. A must to read.

Passo all'italiano. Un buon libro, facile da leggere per i principianti e allo stesso tempo completo per i programmatori mediamente avanzati.
Alcuni capitoli sono un po' lunghi, con molte informazioni teoriche che forse possono annoiare alcuni lettori.
Tuttavia, è un ottimo libro su Python, che riesce a spiegare al lettore anche alcuni concetti basilari di buona programmazione. Per chi vuole diventare un buon programmatore Python, un must da leggere.

After not touching any sort of programming for upwards of four years I picked up this book on a whim. Though it may not be as exhaustively thorough with respect to basics as some of the other beginners python books, I found that it still explains things well enough. It also does a really good job of surveying some of most useful modules and their specifics. It is far from an all inclusive book, however it is supposed to be an introductory book and by those standards it is excellent. I find that I still reference this book often while I am programming.