Health Assessment in Nursing - 4th Edition

Kathleen Stilling Burkhart

With this book, the authors have successfully created an innovative, systematic approach to the complete physical examination process as it relates to nurses in clinical practice. In response to a rapidly changing health care environment, nurses from diverse clinical settings need to be armored with a comprehensive clinical knowledge base and expert physical assessment skills. Nurses also need to be able to synthesize the information collected using critical thinking skills to identify client problems and implement an interdisciplinary plan of care. This text provides the tools to assist them in building a solid nursing foundation for performing a complete physical assessment. It is written for nurses from a variety of clinical backgrounds. From the novice nursing student to the advanced practice nurse, the text incorporates both basic assessment skills as well as advanced practice skills. Unlike other physical assessment texts on the market, this text is well grounded in the science of nursing, allowing the reader the ability to relate subjective and objective data collection to clinical nursing practice. This book has a number of ""user friendly"" features that place it above and beyond conventional texts: it is in a three-ring binder notebook format, which allows the reader to open the text flat, and frees hands for practicing assessment techniques; movable sections allow students to remove the section they are studying and not have to carry the entire text; hundreds of color illustrations and photographs depict both normal and abnormal assessment findings; and detailed chapter outlines assist the student in organizing the examination. I strongly recommend this text for anyoneteaching health assessment to nurses. It does a remarkable job integrating the nursing process into health assessment, which makes what nurses do unique in comparison to other disciplines. I found this book to be extremely well thought out and orchestrated. It is a comprehensive systematic approach to the health assessment of patients throughout the lifespan. I look forward to using it next semester with my nurse practitioner students.

Reviewer: Kathleen Stilling Burkhart, MSN, CANP, CGNP (Uniformed Services University)
Description: With this book, the authors have successfully created an innovative, systematic approach to the complete physical examination process as it relates to nurses in clinical practice.
Purpose: In response to a rapidly changing health care environment, nurses from diverse clinical settings need to be armored with a comprehensive clinical knowledge base and expert physical assessment skills. Nurses also need to be able to synthesize the information collected using critical thinking skills to identify client problems and implement an interdisciplinary plan of care. This text provides the tools to assist them in building a solid nursing foundation for performing a complete physical assessment.
Audience: It is written for nurses from a variety of clinical backgrounds. From the novice nursing student to the advanced practice nurse, the text incorporates both basic assessment skills as well as advanced practice skills. Unlike other physical assessment texts on the market, this text is well grounded in the science of nursing, allowing the reader the ability to relate subjective and objective data collection to clinical nursing practice.
Features: This book has a number of "user friendly" features that place it above and beyond conventional texts: it is in a three-ring binder notebook format, which allows the reader to open the text flat, and frees hands for practicing assessment techniques; movable sections allow students to remove the section they are studying and not have to carry the entire text; hundreds of color illustrations and photographs depict both normal and abnormal assessment findings; and detailed chapter outlines assist the student in organizing the examination.
Assessment: I strongly recommend this text for anyone teaching health assessment to nurses. It does a remarkable job integrating the nursing process into health assessment, which makes what nurses do unique in comparison to other disciplines. I found this book to be extremely well thought out and orchestrated. It is a comprehensive systematic approach to the health assessment of patients throughout the lifespan. I look forward to using it next semester with my nurse practitioner students.

4 Stars! from Doody