Lippincott's Nursing Drug Guide, 2004 (Lippincotts Nursing Drug Guide, 2004)

Rating:
Summary: Very good but not complete
Review: You're only as good as your current information. While the Lippincott's Nursing Drug Guide 2004 has lots of useful information and is a compact, informative source for most drugs, it's missing many new drugs approved and on the market as of 2002. For example, Pimecrolimus (tradename Elidel) which is widely used by derms, peds and family practice doctors is nowhere to be found in the book either under its generic or brand name.

Some similar medications with the same mode of action but different absorption and pharmacokinetics are lumped together For example, Concerta, Ritalin LA, Ritalin, Ritalin SR are all lumped together under their generic name without discussing the effects of the different delivery systems and how that might impact patient side effects.

There's absolutely no mention of oral terbinafine which has been on the market for the last three years. Since oral anti-fungals can have differing coverage and drug interactions, it would be wise to be comprehensive in this particular category.

On the other hand, many of the IV medications are pretty up-to-date making this more of an indepensible guide for hospitals vs. office based practices. Certainly there are medications that might be sampled/written on the office level here as well; it just appears as if the information isn't as comprehensive as could be.

The book is well organzied with an index based around the class of medication as well as generic names. For those medications that are "branded" it might be a bit more difficult to find as there is no brand name guide. Since not all of us think of medications and their generic names, this might be a useful cross reference (particularly if the patient knows the brand name and not the generic as so often happens).

There's a very useful section based on the different types of medications that provides a thumbnail overview of the class and the typical side effects and effects seen with the class of medication. There's also a useful section that has illustrations of some of the common medications out there. Since patients frequently remember the color and shape of their pills but not always other details about the medication (beyond what they take it for), this is useful as well in determining what the patient might be taking.

This book is certainly more user friendly and easier to access than the PDR and is missing the complete PI for various medications verbatium. In a sense, this is an advantage as the guide provides a good, quick and targeted overview on each medication. It also allows nurses to sidestep the useful information that the FDA frequently requires drug manufacturers to put in their package insert.

On the whole, Karch's book is very good and an indepensible tool for nurses. Karch's book also overlooks a number of popular medications that were approved as soon as two years ago and tends to lump the medications together without distinguishing the differences between delivery systems and how that might impact the side effects patients feel.