Nutritional Assessment: A Manual for Practitioners, by Terri G. Jensen, DeAnn Englert, and Stanley J. Dudrick, 210 pp, East Norwalk, Conn, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1983.
The ever-growing complexity of patient care has led to a growing body of literature. These two softbound manuals, one British and one American, address specific aspects of patient care.
The British contribution, Metabolic Care, broadly addresses the problems of fluid and electrolyte management and of nutritional support. Beginning with a chapter on body composition, the author proceeds methodically through specific abnormalities of electrolyte levels and acid-base balance and nutritional requirements, and ends with three excellent chapters on parenteral nutrition, intravenous infusion techniques, and enternal nutrition. He concludes with a chapter on pediatrics that is intended to extend his adult-oriented discussion to children.
Tweedle has intended his manual to be of primary benefit to the clinical practitioner. He has succeeded in this aim; the junior surgical resident could