Advanced Health Assessment & Clinical Diagnosis in Primary Care by Joyce E. Dains, Linda Ciofu Baumann, Pamela Scheibel

From the Publisher

Designed for advanced practice nursing students and novice clinicians, Advanced Health Assessment & Clinical Diagnosis in Primary Care, 3rd Edition is a practical resource that takes the readers to the "next step" of health assessment, beyond basic history and physical examination and into the diagnostic reasoning process. Accessible and concise, it focuses on the physical examination centering on a specific chief complaint rather than a diagnosis of a disease entity. Each chapter is organized in five major areas: Diagnostic Reasoning: Focused History; Key Questions; Diagnostic Reasoning: Focused Physical Examination; Laboratory and Diagnostic Studies; and Differential Diagnosis. The primary care provider who masters the differential diagnoses in this text will be able to accurately diagnose the majority of patients seen in practice today!

• Emphasizes a symptom- or problem-based approach to diagnosis.
• Focuses on the use of history and physical examination to engage the process of clinical diagnosis.
• Highlights Key Questions to ask the patient, followed by an explanation of what the patient's responses may signify, to guide the practitioner toward an accurate assessment and focus on a precise diagnosis.
• Includes Diagnostic Reasoning: Focused Physical Examination content in each section to instruct the practitioner in what physical examination components to perform, assisting in the diagnostic process.
• Features Laboratory and Diagnostic Studies content in each section to provide an outline of what laboratory or diagnostic tests would be appropriate for the chief complaint and/or suspected diagnosis.
• Differential Diagnosis tables at the endof each chapter provide a comprehensive overview of previously discussed differential diagnosis content, offering the practitioner an at-a-glance summary of possible diagnoses.
• Includes integrated content on children, providing the practitioner with important information on how symptoms and diagnoses can vary in this population group.

• Mood, Behavior Changes, and Psychosocial Concerns chapter considers commonly encountered psychological conditions and psychosocial concerns, and provides an approach to elicit more information, determine suicidal risk, and evaluate for a diagnosable psychological disorder.
• The Chest Film chapter offers a guided approach to reading and interpreting chest x-rays.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Kathleen M. Woodruff, RN, MS, CRNP (Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing)
Description:This book helps students move from basic history and physical examinations to implementing the diagnostic reasoning process. It is designed to help students work through the diagnostic process from the initial chief complaint to a comprehensive differential diagnosis. The previous editions of this book were published in 2003 and 1998.
Purpose:The purpose is to help students bridge the gap between basic physical examination books and medical books that are aimed primarily at disease management. It is not intended to be a text on clinical management, but rather an introduction to the thought processes that are incorporated into diagnostic reasoning. This book does an excellent job of accomplishing the author's objectives.
Audience:It is intended for beginning clinicians and/or students who will be using history and physical examination skills in the clinical setting. The authors are experienced clinicians and experts in the field.
Features:The book is organized first into body systems and more specifically into chapters of common presenting symptoms. Each chapter covers a focused history, focused physical, laboratory and diagnostic studies, differential diagnosis, and a differential diagnosis table. The focused history is innovative because the section is designed around questions that experienced clinicians would be asking themselves as they are organizing and ordering the questions to ask the patient. Each key question is followed by an explanation of an interpretation or explanation about why the patient responsesmight be significant.
Assessment:This is an excellent resource for primary care clinicians and students. Management of healthcare problems is intentionally not included in this book. The goal is to expand the reader's use of diagnostic reasoning in the context of advancing and perfecting advanced health assessment skills. The third edition has added chapters on mood, behavior changes, and psychosocial concerns as well as chest films, in addition to updating the other chapters. The authors also have added a number of very useful evidence-based practice guidelines.

Rating

3 Stars from Doody

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents