Follow us
Log in
Much of the content on our site is available to our registered users only. If you're already registered, just click the 'Log in' button then enter your email address and password.
Register
If you're not already registered on the site, you'll need to do so in order to gain unrestricted access to all our content. There are two types of registration:
1. If you're a current subscriber, you can register for access to our protected content at no additional cost. You'll need your subscription number in order to complete your registration, which is on the polythene wrapper in which your journal is delivered. Click the Register button to begin your registration.
2. If you don't currently subscribe you can do so now by taking out a secure online subscription. Not only will this give you instant access to our protected online content, but you'll also get every issue of Nursing Standard - the UK's best selling nursing journal - delivered straight to your door. Click the Register button to begin your subscription and registration.
The Rational Clinical Examination – Evidence-Based Clinical Diagnosis
Author: David L Simel, Marvin Nelson
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Medical
Pages: 732pp
ISBN: 9780071590303
Review
This excellent book features a series of peer-reviewed articles on history taking and clinical examination that have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association since 1992.
Each article is presented in its original format, followed by a summary of new information.
This is a sizeable tome covering clinical conditions from osteoporosis to thoracic aortic dissection. Each chapter begins with a diagnostic question, for example: ‘Is this patient having a myocardial infarction?’
The clinical scenarios are engaging, with each article illustrating the most relevant signs and symptoms, such as pain. The emphasis on clinical significance and recognition that clinical examination is an art and science are particularly refreshing.
A useful primer chapter explains terms such as confidence, sensitivity, specificity and meta-analysis with reference to clinical examination, signs, symptoms and diagnostic tests.
The book acknowledges that those caring for patients will engage in history taking and clinical examination, and in so doing supports evidence-based practice.
Overall, this is a detailed and complex text supporting exploration of the decision-making process with reference to history and examination.
Reviewer: Pam Nelmes
« Back to search results | Search again »
RCN Publishing is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk
The RCN Publishing Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal College of Nursing, the world's largest organisation for nurses. RCN Publishing produces one weekly, eight monthly and two quarterly nursing publications. Nursing Standard, the flagship journal, is the UK's biggest selling weekly for nursing. It is produced by RCN Publishing Company along with a suite of specialist nursing journals - Cancer Nursing Practice, Mental Health Practice, Learning Disability Practice, Nursing Children and Young People, Nursing Management, Emergency Nurse, Nursing Older People, Nurse Researcher and Primary Health Care. RCN Publishing Company also produce the RCN Bulletin, a major source of up-to-the-minute information for RCN members in all specialities, grades and working environments. With the latest nurse vacancies from trusts nationwide, it has become the most cost-effective nurse recruitment magazine available.