Jones & Bartlett Survivorship Series

Reviewed by: Carolyn Vachani, RN, MSN, AOCN
The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Last Modified: December 2, 2009

Series Editor: Lisa Kennedy Sheldon
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett, 2010
Information: $22.95 US | 219-249 pages, depending on which of the 5 guides
OncoLink Rating:

Cancer survivorship care seems to be everywhere you turn these days, which is wonderful! But this isn’t a topic nurses heard about in nursing school, so where is a nurse to turn for a good resource to learn about the survivorship issues facing their patients? The Jones & Bartlett Survivorship Series, for one! Nurses in practice know that survivorship care is a whole new aspect of patient care, one they will need to educate themselves about in order to provide their patients with good information.

The Survivorship Series includes an individual guidebook for 5 of the most common cancers in the U.S. (breast, prostate, lung, colorectal and lymphoma). Each book provides a brief overview of the cancer, discussion of follow up care issues, management of side effects (short and long term), promoting a healthy lifestyle and psychosocial concerns for survivors. The final section is an introduction to the major insurance types and the legal protections that apply to survivors, such as FMLA and the ADA. It also discusses the oncology nurses role in coordinating care between primary care and other specialties, which can be an overwhelming but necessary task for patients.

The information in each guidebook is tailored to the specific cancer type and it’s treatments. For instance, while the prostate guide discusses urinary incontinence, the lymphoma guide does not. However, there is quite a bit of overlap in the guides and many of the sections are duplicated in each guide. For that reason alone, it may have been better to put the information all in one guide for survivorship care. The topics are actually useful when caring for survivors of any cancer, not just what the title implies. The books are done in a pocket-guide size, which may make them convenient to keep on hand.

Overall, these books are a great resource for oncology nurses looking to incorporate survivorship care into their clinics or just looking to enhance their knowledge of survivorship issues.