In Women’s Gynecologic Health, authors Durnell Schuiling and Likis take on the broad subject of women’s health from a more holistic and feminist approach than previous textbooks on this topic. For years, nursing textbooks have examined medical issues with an approach of wellness, in contrast to the illness approach of medical texts. This textbook takes the wellness approach a step further by applying current feminist models. This is an essential step. As the authors point out, many gynecologic issues women bring to their providers are not related to a “problem” or an “illness” but, rather, are a normal variation for that particular woman affected by her age, her cultural background, her current stage of growth and development, or her sexual orientation, in addition to many other personal influences. To ensure that the reader has a firm grasp on the feminist perspective, the entire first chapter is devoted to how the feminist perspective relates to women’s health and then consistently refers back to the theory of feminism throughout the text in discussions of pathology.

This textbook is segmented into three distinct portions. The first section gives the reader a review of women’s growth and development from a feminist perspective and reminds the reader of the importance of using evidence-based practice in this discipline. The next section reviews essential basics for women’s health providers. It also contains an excellent chapter on gynecologic health care for lesbians, which discusses the many women’s health issues that can be influenced by sexual orientation. The third section focuses on the management of women’s gynecologic health care issues.

This text is constructed to serve as a basic learning tool for students and beginning practitioners, as well as a reference guide for experienced practitioners. The management sections are especially helpful and more comprehensive than those seen by this reviewer in other texts.

A number of collaborators were involved in the writing of this text; the majority of them were advanced nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives. The authors accomplish consistency of format throughout the text, which is impressive with so many contributors.

The information provided is current, and the majority of references used throughout the text are recent. Certain topics that are not well covered in previous women’s gynecologic health texts due to limited research are covered much more adequately. An excellent example is the information provided on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Some topics are not covered well. In the final chapter on chronic pelvic pain, the topic of interstitial cystitis (IC) is mentioned as one of the leading causes of pelvic pain; however, the text only offers a few sentences of information on this topic. Although IC is nongynecologic, it is a condition that women’s health practitioners frequently encounter and are qualified to treat. Furthermore, this is a diagnosis that is fairly new and not well outlined in many other textbooks. Readers would have benefited greatly from a more in-depth discussion of IC, including etiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management options, as was provided for conditions such as PCOS. Furthermore, the textbook lacks coverage of urinary tract infections, which, although also nongynecologic, are frequently managed by women’s health practitioners. A future edition would be more complete by including such topics in the material.

Overall, the authors did an excellent job of organizing the material, providing information that is current and research based, and covering most of the subjects that fall under the scope of gynecologic health. In addition, the authors keep the readers consistently focused on a view of wellness, holism, and the feminist perspective. This textbook is an excellent learning tool for beginners, as well as an appropriate resource for experienced practitioners.