Customer Reviews

Cardiac Surgery Essentials for Critical Care Nursing (Hardin, Cardiac Surgery Essentials for Critical Care Nursing)

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I bought this book recently. It is precise,well written and covers all the major aspects of Cardiac Surgery that an RN in this speciality need to know - all in 462 pages. This even has questions and answers at the end of each chapter. I would recommend this book for anyone who are new to Cardiac Surgery field or for those who would need a reference or teaching aid. I am preparing for the AACN's Cardiac Surgery Certification ( CSC ) examination. As you know there are no specific "review books" avaialable for CSC, nor a Q & A book. I found this book extremely useful, with adequate information. Also, the bibliography list is very detailed and helps one to look for more information, including the websites to refer to. Overall, I would give a "Top rating" for the information and price.

If anything to improve, I would suggest a CD with Q & A to review. Also, some more illustrations would help for example, a picture of a Swan Ganz catheter, pictures of different kinds of valves or that of a Balloon pump inflated ( I liked the tables with very important details in each chapter).I understand this would have made the book bulky. I also appreciate the references for further details. Perhaps, the layout could have been better if it was like a "typical Saunders book" Many of us like the details in a short format and not in detail - perhaps a personal choice.. Thank you to the writers - Sonya Hardin and Roberta Kaplow for their contribution to Cardiac Surgery speciality and all nurses in the field. Can you please publish a Q & A book for Cardiac Surgery, Cardiac Medicine( CSC, CMC ) Certification in combination or alone? It would help many of us tremendously.

Well done Amazon, you make it much cheaper than even the major " Nursing organization,with membership". It helps us to own the book and use it much affordably. Thank you.

I have been a cardiac nurse for 35 years and still love the cardiac surgery world. This book is the most comprehensive single resource I have ever used. Easy reading, looks into the areas that may not be understood by the novice. Excellent chapters on hemodynamic monitoring and intra-aortic balloon pump therapy. Should be required of all nurses entering the cardiac surgery ICU.

I've been a nurse for 1.5yrs in the largest CVICU (30 beds, only open hearts) in the state of Wisconsin. We take all the high risk patients that no other hospital will do, so I see the sickest of the sick everyday. Let me start by saying that though I see this stuff everyday, I learned SO MUCH by reading this book. I passed the CCRN test and wanted to further my knowledge by taking the CSC certification test. I looked at A LOT of other books before deciding to buy this one, and it does NOT disappoint!

This book covers about every major topic/problems that happen with Open Heart Surgery. It's published this year, and the references relating to current practice are current (most citations I saw throughout the chapters dating 2006 to present). This book isn't overwhelming, I was able to get through it in a few weeks. I'm kinda a nerd, but I really didn't feel like I was studying when I was reading this because it was truly so interesting and enjoyable. The case studies and questions at the end are very helpful in preparing for the CSC exam.

I passed the CSC exam last week. Even though i have experience and recover hearts everyday, I'm not sure I would have passed without this book. I feel much more knowledgable after reading it, and honestly can see myself looking at patients and the big picture differently. I highly recommend it, it's a great read!

I bought this book when I was studying for the Cardiac Surgery Certification exam because I test better when I use practice questions beforehand. There really isn't a better study guide for the exam than this book. The chapters are organized by topic, so you can skip what you're already confident on and just read what you need to review. I have been a CVICU open heart nurse for 5 years and learned a few things. The practice questions are sometimes more difficult than the actual CSC exam. I would definintely use other study aids, however, since when I took the exam there were two drugs on the exam that were not even mentioned in the book.

This is an easy to read, well set out text. However, some confusion can arise from page 17 under 'Pressure of blood in major vessels'. The text describes the v wave followed by the x descent and the a wave followed by the y descent. This is incorrect. In fact Figure 2-5 accurately depicts the a wave followed by the x descent and the v wave followed by the y descent.

Good book. If you need a primer on this topic, this is a good choice. If you have been doing this a quarter of a century and have kept udated in your field, then it is a nice read but nothing spectacular. I enjoyed reading it. I remember reading a few areas where I feel the aurthor got the info "backwards" such as PA pressures with a failing postop valve (just one sentence and my memory is lacking....I think he meant to write increase, not decrease), but was not a big issue. I do not remember specifics. I have loaned the book to a young friend and she has not given it back yet. She really likes it.

Anyway, if you are new to hearts, a good book to help with understanding of how things work and what they mean.

I just passed CSC and this book is only my review.It covers most of the topics on the exam. I strongly recommend it.