Advanced Health Assessment & Clinical Diagnosis in Primary Care

Rating:
Summary: A great resource for the novice or experienced NP!
Review: Although the initial chapter on Clinical Reasoning and Differential Diagnosis is limited, it is a concisely written prelude to a wealth of focused symptom assessment strategies. As a practitioner and a faculty member in a nurse practitioner program, I have found this book to be an excellent teaching resource. Each chapter contains several of the most common symptoms related to a specific body system. For example, the cardiovascular and respiratory systems are represented by the symptoms of dyspnea, chest pain and cough. The overlapping of these systems is artfully woven together is a manner that consistently prompts the reader to be focused yet complete. Each chapter outlines key questions to ask and also provides analysis of the possible patient responses. Included is a relational inference between each symptom and age specific concerns. At the end of each chapter, the authors have developed "Differential Diagnosis" tables that are particulary useful to the novice nurse practitioner in a clinical setting. Overall the book's pocket size format lends it to easy reading and convenience.