Lewis’s Medical-Surgical Nursing E-Book

Book Preface

The eleventh edition of Lewis’s Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems incorporates the most current medical-surgical nursing information in an easy-to-use format. This textbook is a comprehensive resource containing the essential information that students need to prepare for class, examinations, clinical assignments, and safe and comprehensive patient care. The text and accompanying resources include many features to help students learn key medical-surgical nursing content, including patient and caregiver teaching, gerontology, interprofessional care, cultural and ethnic considerations, patient safety, genetics, nutrition and drug therapy, evidence-based practice, and much more.

To address the rapidly changing practice environment, all efforts were directed toward building on the strengths of the previous editions while delivering this more effective new edition. To help students and faculty members focus on the most important concepts in patient care, most chapters open with a conceptual focus that introduces students to the common concepts shared by patients experiencing the main exemplars discussed in the chapter. This edition features more body maps and has many new illustrations. Lengthy diagnostic tables in the assessment chapters have been separated into specific categories, including radiologic studies and serology studies. The previously combined visual and auditory content is now in separate chapters focusing on the assessment and management of vision and hearing disorders. New Promoting Population Health boxes address strategies to improve health outcomes.

For a text to be effective, it must be understandable. In this edition great effort has been put into improving the readability and lowering the reading level. Students will find more clear and easier-to-read language, with an engaging conversational style. The narrative addresses the reader, helping make the text more personal and an active learning tool. The language is more positive. For example, particular side effects and complications are referred to as common, as opposed to not uncommon.

International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP) nursing diagnoses, one of the terminologies recognized by the American Nurses Association, are used throughout the text and ancillary materials. The language is similar to that of NANDA-I. ICNP nursing diagnoses are used in many facilities worldwide to document nursing care in electronic health records. By introducing students to the ICNP nursing diagnoses, students will learn a more shared vocabulary. This should translate into the more accurate use of diagnostic language in clinical practice across healthcare settings.

Contributors were selected for their expertise in specific content areas; one or more specialists in a given subject area have thoroughly reviewed each chapter to increase accuracy. The editors have undertaken final rewriting and editing to achieve internal consistency. The comprehensive and timely content, special features, attractive layout, full-color illustrations, and student-friendly writing style combine to make this the textbook used in more nursing schools than any other medical-surgical nursing textbook.

Organization

Content is organized into 2 major divisions. The first division, Sections 1 through 3 (Chapters 1 through 16), discusses general concepts related to the care of adult patients. The second division, Sections 4 through 13 (Chapters 17 through 68), presents nursing assessment and nursing management of medical-surgical problems. At the beginning of each chapter, the Conceptual Focus helps students focus on the key concepts and integrate concepts with exemplars affecting different great effort has been put into improving the readability and lowering the reading level. Students will find more clear and easier-to-read language, with an engaging conversational style. The narrative addresses the reader, helping make the text more personal and an active learning tool. The language is more positive. For example, particular side effects and complications are referred to as common, as opposed to not uncommon.

International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP) nursing diagnoses, one of the terminologies recognized by the American Nurses Association, are used throughout the text and ancillary materials. The language is similar to that of NANDA-I. ICNP nursing diagnoses are used in many facilities worldwide to document nursing care in electronic health records. By introducing students to the ICNP nursing diagnoses, students will learn a more shared vocabulary. This should translate into the more accurate use of diagnostic language in clinical practice across healthcare settings.

Contributors were selected for their expertise in specific content areas; one or more specialists in a given subject area have thoroughly reviewed each chapter to increase accuracy. The editors have undertaken final rewriting and editing to achieve internal consistency. The comprehensive and timely content, special features, attractive layout, full-color illustrations, and student-friendly writing style combine to make this the textbook used in more nursing schools than any other medical-surgical nursing textbook.

Content is organized into 2 major divisions. The first division, Sections 1 through 3 (Chapters 1 through 16), discusses general concepts related to the care of adult patients. The second division, Sections 4 through 13 (Chapters 17 through 68), presents nursing assessment and nursing management of medical-surgical problems. At the beginning of each chapter, the Conceptual Focus helps students focus on the key concepts and integrate concepts with exemplars affecting different