Laying out a report or reference for consultation
Reports and reference works need to make a particular answer easy to find and interpret. Result alignment, a structure matched to the reader's task, consistent chapter formats and clear navigation can support consultation without requiring the whole document to be read.
Laboratory result displays
Laboratory results must be presented in a straightforward, accessible way; poorly or inconveniently presented information wastes time and burdens busy medical and nursing staff. Five details must be easily decipherable on a monitor or printout.
- Alignment of results.
- Placement of normal values for comparison.
- Prior results.
- Special notations.
- Date and time of collection.
Input from staff outside the laboratory can help improve reporting formats.
Clinical reference structure
Organising an emergency-medicine reference by presenting complaint can match the way patients present. The 2005 An Introduction to Clinical Emergency Medicine used four sections.
- Principles of emergency medicine, beginning with the approach to the patient and including airway management, resuscitation, shock, trauma, pre-hospital care and pain management.
- Thirty-two alphabetically ordered chapters on presenting complaints, from abdominal pain to weakness.
- Special issues: abuse, ethical and legal questions, environmental emergencies and occupational exposures.
- Appendices with procedural instructions and guidance on interpreting laboratory tests.
Within the complaint chapters, medical-history sections were organised around questions to ask. Chapters had a consistent format and typically ended with a “Pearls, pitfalls, and myths” segment. Ample headings and a sufficiently spaced index made information accessible. Tables, drawings, flowcharts, photographs and radiographs supplemented the text. A different pale accent colour in each chapter's margins and tables helped unify it and distinguish it from neighbouring chapters.
The seventh edition (2005) of Phlebotomy Handbook: Blood Collection Essentials combined procedural instruction with quick-reference aids: a back-cover chart showed specimen tubes by cap colour and the diagnostic tests for samples collected in each, with a larger chart supplied as a wall poster. Each chapter contained case studies and study questions. A detailed contents list, index and twelve appendices provided further routes to information.
Navigation within a long book
The 2006 book The Flu Pandemic and You: A Canadian Guide was tall but nearly pocket-sized and used a question-and-answer format. Every chapter began with a one-page bulleted preview headed “This Chapter in One Page”. Frequent section headings oriented readers within the text. Grey boxes separated supplementary information, including World Health Organization guidance and a case history of controlling avian flu in Hong Kong.
In a review of Heart Care for Life, a list of all abbreviations at the front was judged potentially useful as a marked reference point but also capable of deterring less confident readers. Tables and boxes added information throughout the book, although the reviewer wanted more graphics and more labels on those included.