Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents: Conceptual overview of nursing health assessment: Nurse's role in health assessment: collecting and analyzing data -- The client in context: culture, spirituality, family and community -- Nursing data collection, documentation and analysis: Collecting subjective data -- Collecting objective data -- Validating and documenting data -- Using diagnostic reasoning skills to analyze data -- Nursing assessment of the adult: General survey.mental status exam and vital signs -- Pain assessment -- Nutritional assessment -- Spiritual assessment -- Skin, hair and nail assessment -- Head and neck assessment -- Eye assessment -- Ear assessment -- Mouth, throat, nose and sinus assessment -- Thoracic and lung assessment -- Breast and lymphatic assessment -- Heart and neck vessel assessment -- Peripheral vascular assessment -- Abdominal assessment -- Female genitalia assessment -- Male genitalia assessment -- Anus, rectum and prostate assessment -- Musculoskeletal assessment -- Neurologic assessment -- Pulling it all together -- Nursing assessment of special groups: Assessment of the childbearing woman -- Assessment of newborns and infants -- Assessment of children and adolescents -- Assessment of the frail elderly client -- Assessment of the family -- Assessment of families using violence -- Community assessment --