Physical Examination & Health Assessment (Hardcover)

by Carolyn Jarvis PhD APN CNP (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Book Description
Provides all the information necessary to conduct a holistic health assessment across the life span

Product Description
Physical Examination and Health Assessment provides all the information necessary to conduct a holistic health assessment across the life span. The physical examination unit is organized by body system, pedagogically and clinically the most logical and efficient way to learn and perform health assessment. Each chapter has five major sections: (1) Structure and Function (A&P); (2) Subjective Data (history); (3) Objective Data (skills, expected findings, and common variations for healthy people and selected abnormal findings); (4) Abnormal Findings (illustrations of related disorders and conditions in atlas format); and (5) Application and Documentation (sample charting, clinical case studies, nursing diagnoses, and critical thinking questions tied to the Saunders video series).

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 928 pages
• Publisher: Saunders; 4th edition (June 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0721697739
• ISBN-13: 978-0721697734
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #168,461 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent nursing text that will enhance my career needs!, February 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Physical Examination and Health Assessment (Hardcover)

I am a registered nurse with an Associates Degree in Nursing. I am currently enrolled at Governors State University with the goal of obtaining a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. I am presently taking a course in Health Assessment and the required textbook is Mosby's 2nd edition of Health and Physical Assessment. Within two weeks of the beginning of the course; a classmate and I decided the text was not thorough enough for our present level as nursing students with several years of nursing experience. We felt we needed a textbook which would enable us to enhance the skills we already possess and delve into the rationale for the procedures we have never had the opportunity to perform; but expect to in our future careers as Nurse Practicioners. Therefore we went to Rush University Bookstore today and were amazed at the variety of texts on this subject. We chose Physical Examination and Health Assessment by Carolyn Jarvis because of the marvelous text layout which seemed to have been prepared especially for nurses in our situation. Each chapter not only discusses the topic, but it explains the rationales of each assessment and expounds upon each subject and fully explains how to assess each system in depth. As an African American woman I can truly appreciate the time and effort that was taken to provide accurate, extensive information on the assessment of hair, skin, and nails of non-white patients. The transcultural highlights are excellent. The information reguarding the assessment of tatoos is also an excellent addition to current nursing textbooks because of its prevalence in our society. The section in each chapter on abnormal findings provides nursing students with a wonderful outlet to improve critical thinking skills. The need for the normal finding explanations cannot be overstated due to the focus of preventive nursing in this age. The illustrations in the text leave no doubt as to the appearance of certain primary lesions that have not been visualized in the clinical setting. The extent of information on labs performed in the nutritional assessment leave no stone unturned in evaluation of this critical area. The area on assessment of the head and neck provides a wealth of information on the complete assessment of the underlying structures through palpation of the overlying skin surfaces. I also admire the explanations included on the proper usage of the otoscope, opthalmoscope and tuning fork. The added Laboratory Manual and Pocket Companion are invaluable resources. I truly enjoyed learning about the author in the synopsis in the Pocket Companion. Her experience in a variety of areas were an added incentive for my purchase. Every area of the textbook was thoroughly used for providing invaluable information. Even the front inside cover gives commonly used translations from English to Spanish for patients nurses can no longer afford to ignore in any setting. The back inside cover acknowledges the importance of universal precautions in our current society. My classmate and I were very impressed also with the area on vital signs which expounded on the multiple reasons for inaccurate and erroneous blood pressure readings. How often have these problems affected the recorded vital signs? I could continue, but suffice it to say that this textbook will have a special place in my heart as well as on my desk for the remainder of my career. I sincerely thank the author, her contributors, and the publisher for such an innovative and pertinent text that will survive into the next millenium. BRAVO!

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NURSING FACULTY, PLEASE READ THIS!, October 19, 2004

By	Jacob Hantla "hantla.com" (Chandler, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Attention: Nursing School Faculty, please read

As a student I am not in a position to compare Jarvis' book to any others like it so I am not going to pretend that I can. I will say that the easy writing and abundance of pictures makes this book a book we love to study. It is easy to understand and seems to balance simplicity with detail, not being overly in-depth on background issues, yet giving just enough information to help us understand both the theory and practice of physical examination and health assessment.

BUT HERE'S THE RUB...
After two months of use the book is falling apart. Entire sections have detached from the bindings, other random pages slip out singly from their location. Our use of the book has involved only reading it. There has not been any abuse, in fact the cover looks almost new. There isn't even any bending of the corners which would point to excessive use. Other students in the nursing program at ASU have been having similar issues.

Why can a book like this that costs over seventy dollars be made in such a cheap manner? Nobody holds them accountable. I plan on keeping my textbooks long after school, using them as references throughout my career, but this one isn't even surviving a semester! Students can't hold the publisher accountable because we do not have the power of choice. We have to buy the books that our professors choose to use. It must be the instructors who step up and force publishers to do better.

I have contacted the publisher regarding the issue. I will post a follow-up to this review as they either take responsibility or do not for their slipshod product.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Information about User Guide and Access Code, August 29, 2006

By	LVN2RN (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Health Assessment Online to Accompany Physical Examination and Health Assessment (User Guide and Access Code) (Paperback)

Just an FYI...which I learned the hard way. This User Guide and Access Code just allows you to access the online course, which has many useful features. (The textbook itself is great). If your instructor indicates that you need the "Online Component," this is it...and this is an additional cost to the textbook with accompanying Student CD-ROM. Also, buyer beware if you plan on purchasing this "User Guide and Access Code" from vendors indicating the item is "Used" or "Like New." **The Access Code can only be used once.** Unless the item is brand new, you may be getting an access code that has already been used and you may be denied access into the online course. Like I said, I learned the hard way. (Please don't take this the wrong way...there's nothing wrong with the vendors and, in fact, I buy many of my books from the Amazon Marketplace vendors. It's just that the publisher, Elsevier, only allows use of this Access Code once. If anything, I would recommend contacting the vendor directly to ask if the Access Code has already been used--just to be sure).