Mixed Blessings: Intensive Care for Newborns [Paperback]

Jeanne Harley Guillemin (Author), Lynda Lytle Holmstrom (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195066596 | ISBN-13: 978-0195066593 | Publication Date: August 2, 1990

In this first inside account of the closed world of neonatal intensive care, two medical sociologists focus on the social context for medical decision making in the sensitive area of newborn life. Based on observations in the most sophisticated neonatal intensive care units in twelve U.S. hospitals, this work raises important questions about infants, parents, and hospital personnel: When should a baby be moved into--or out of--an intensive care unit? How much help should be given? To what extent are parents regularly excluded from decisions made about the fate of their child? The result is an enthralling ethnography with findings both fascinating and eye-opening.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Should be on every experienced neonatal nurse's must read list....Fascinating....Will surely provide challenging and rewarding reading for all neonatal nurses who are exhausted by the day-to-day, in-the-trenches perspective of their work, and who want more." --Neonatal Network

"Excellent....This is a beautifully crafted book that renders a technically difficult area accessible to the nonmedical audience in a very readable style." --Gender and Society

"Presents a very real and emotional picture of the N.I.C.U. It provides an excellent nonphysicians' perspective...[and] an excellent introduction to the workings of N.I.C.U., without being so technical that it could not be read by parents, social workers, and even interested medical students."--University of Toronto Medical Journal

"A valuable resource for anyone interested in the sociology of medicine and will give further perspective to those in medical ethics."--Religious Studies Review

"As a director of an NICU, I recognized the accuracy and validity of the reporting. The authors have done a commendable job in conveying the reality of the day-to-day atmosphere of the high-risk nursery. . . Should be read by all professionals involved in the running of an NICU, including administrators."--Journal of the American Medical Association

"The best book yet on the rapidly-evolving world of newborn intensive care, it combines penetrating observations with theoretically well-informed perspectives."--Disability Studies Quarterly

"This well-written work is based on observations of and interviews with health care professionals regarding attitudes toward the practice of saving the lives of critically ill neonates. Case studies are presented, and the role of hospital research is addressed. The study was conducted in neonative intensive care hospital units in the U.S. and results are compared to similar institutions in other countries....The volume is well documented, and ethicists...and numerous reputable sociologists are referenced. Subject and name indexes and a glossary enhance use of this book."--Choice

"A major strength of the book is its perspective, from an outside, societal viewpoint, on the decision-making process in the intensive care nursery. This alone should make it interesting reading for health care professionals and administrators with responsibility or participation in the intensive care nursery."--New England Journal of Medicine

"A coherent and readable treatment...investigat[ing] admission and treatment policies, organization of professionals, inter-institutional cooperation, patient relations, and social and psychological issues. They direct specific policy recommendations at the `bureaucratic dynamic,' detailing efforts to be made by hospitals, government, and neonatal units....Recommended for professionals, officials, and administrators."--Library Journal

"This is an important book for those who are concerned with ethics in health care and how management decisions are made. This book is also recommended for nurse-midwifery students in the neonatology module. In addition it will be especially helpful for those students with little or no theoretical knowledge and/or practical experience in the NICU....For those patents with a need to know, understand, and participate in their child's health care, this book will provide tremendous insight....The information in this book will help CNMs to function more efficiently and effectively as advocates for the mother, father, and baby. In summary, Mixed Blessings is an excellent overview of newborn intensive care."--Journal of Nurse-Midwifery

About the Author

Lynda Lytle Holmstrom, Professors of Sociology, both at Boston College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 2, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195066596
• ISBN-13: 978-0195066593
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,994,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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