The second book, Risk Manage- Briefly Noted
ment and Quality Assurance, is
based on the premise that risk man-
agement is an essential component of
quality assurance. "By channeling in-
cident-report data through hospital
quality assurance mechanisms, com-
prehensive corrective action to pre-
vent future incidents is made possi-
ble" (p. 87). Much space is devoted
to high-risk/high-malpractice areas
such as obstetrics and anesthesiology.
The one chapter on allied health
starts out with the statement, "Mod-
ern health care case law now supports
the idea of caveat venditor, 'let the
seller beware.' " InCidents and mal-
practice have not been urgent issues
for occupational therapy to date, but
the profession can preclude future
problems by learning from the expe-
rience of other disciplines, particu-
larly regarding how to avoid the de-
velopment of adversarial relationships
with patients and institutions. Greater
consumer involvement and patient
education in quality assurance is rec-
ommended to help prevent malprac-
tice situations.
Surprisingly, given the promo-
tion by JeAH of the notion that qual-
ity assurance information is protected
from legal discovery, this book in-
cludes the statement that "in many
states, laws and rules of evidence still
fail to protect all records of quality as-
surance. Strong laws are needed that
are uniform throughout the United
States to protect such data" (p. 8)
In general, this book makes a
case for the careful review of profes-
sional training and qualifications,
proper documentation, and diligence
in eqUipment use and repair. One
chapter, referring to a popular book
entitled When Bad Things Happen to
Good People, points out that quality
assurance can help identify and cor·
rect "bad things"-hospitaJ-acquired
injuries and illness-which happen to
"good people"-our patients. This
and other thought-provoking ideas
appear throughout the text.
While most occupational thera-
pists may not find it worthwhile to
purchase these books, they should
encourage their hospital library to
do so.
Barbara Joe
The Arney/can journal a/Occupational Therapy
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ing for all entries, part-of-speech
labels to aid in proper usage, and a
Common Disorders of the Hip
Mary C. Singleton and Eleanor F. Branch, Co-
editors (1986).
The Haworth Press, Inc., 12 West 32nd Street,
New York, NY 10001
116 pp, $22.95.
his text, originally published in
T 1986 as Physical Therapy in
Health Care (Vol. 1, No.1), consists
of eight articles that focus on the hip
and disorders of the hip. Primarily in-
tended for physical therapists, this
book may be useful to occupational
therapists who work with patients
who have joint disease or have had a
hip reconstruction or fracture. Many
elderly also would find thiS book a
useful resource.
The first two articles review the
anatomy and biomechanics of the hip
and relate this information to the eti-
ology and prevention of hip dis-
orders. The other articles discuss the
evaluation of hip pain, describe the
surgical and therapeutic treatment of
hip disorders and hip fractures, and
present a physical therapist's account
of her own hip replacement. The au-
thors emphasize that the elderly are at
high risk to develop hip disorders and
that these disorders can be prevented
through exercise and education.
The information in this book can
be useful to occupational therapists
helping those who have hip dis-
orders to lead lives of greater
independence.
Linda J- Westley
Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary
R. W. Pease, Jr., Editor (1986)
Merriam-Webster, Inc., 47 Federal Street, PO
Box 281, Springfield, MA 01101.
790 pp., $18.95.
his new work proVides authorita-
T tive definitions and answers to
language questions but avoids ency-
clopedic information which is better
presented in medical textbooks. As a
result there is more extensive cover-
age of the medical vocabulary.
The following features are in-
cluded: end-of-line hyphenation
points, pronunciation respelling for
all entries, a single alphabetical list-
handbook of style to aid in medical
writing.
This dictionary has been de-
signed to meet the needs of all medi-
cal personnel, including health care
professionals and students.
Margaret K. Mathiott Schafer
Manter & Gatz's Essentials of
Clinical Neuroanatomy and
Neurophysiology (7th ed.)
Sid Gilman, MD, and Sarah Winans Newman
(1986).
F. A. Davis Co., 1915 Arch Street, Philadel-
phia, PA 19103-1493.
256 pp, $15.95.
his is an excellent, up-to-date
T book. The clear, concise chapters
are useful to both the beginning stu-
dent and the advanced clinician and
proVide an overview or quick review
of neuroanatomy and neurophysiol-
ogy. The emphasis is on physiology.
Especially useful is the chapter on
and discussion of lesions of the brain
stem and nervous system. The authors
describe exactly the clinical symp-
toms present with each injUry. The il-
lustrations greatly enhance the text.
Reading lists for further study are pro-
vided. 1 highly recommend this text.
Leslie M. Spilman
Atlas of Hand Splinting
Colleen G. Tenney and Janet M. Lisak (1986).
Little, Brown & Co., Inc., 34 Beacon Street,
Boston, MA 02106.
177 pp., $19.50 (spiralbound).
his book presents numerous com-
T monly used and designed splints
with patterns and descriptions of their
uses. Black and white photographs
are proVided with each splint; how-
ever, a close evaluation of the piC-
tures reveals numerous poorly de-
signed and fitted spl ints placed on a
normal hand. Appendices contain in-
formation regarding evaluation forms,
construction principles, thermoplas-
tics, and outriggers. However, I be-
lieve the authors tried to provide too
much information in too small a
space and attempted a difficult task
without first scrutinizing their own
splint-making skills.
Susan Baum
771