This timesaving guide provides nurses with streamlined steps for rapidly assessing complaints that involve any area of the body. Compact, portable, and designed for on-the-spot reference, the book helps the nurse zero in on the patient's signs and symptoms, conduct a focused interview, examine the related body system, and analyze the findings. Charts of signs and symptoms and possible causes help nurses quickly focus the assessment. This edition provides updated information on assessment techniques, normal and abnormal findings, and specific disorders, and includes a new chapter on documenting an assessment. New appendices include guidelines for assessing victims of abuse and measuring body mass index.