"The text is... a core text for any program preparing individuals for advanced practice roles in perinatal and neonatal care, and it should be a resource in every setting providing care to neonates. At all levels of practice, it serves as a convenient reference to normal parameters, common variations, and less commonly seen abnormalities."

--Susan Tucker Blackburn, RN, PhD, FAAN

Author of Maternal, Fetal, and Neonatal Physiology: A Clinical Perspective

From the Foreword

The newly revised, 25th anniversary edition of this definitive publication on neonatal care continues to illustrate how to systematically and accurately gather assessment data and interpret results. Because even normal newborns feature a wide range of physical variation, subtle signs that indicate internal malformations or syndromes may escape notice without a proper assessment. Many problems in the neonate can be noticed early by an astute nurse, neonatal nurse practitioner, neonatal physician assistant, or physician with honed assessment skills, long before electronic monitors or other equipment can detect them.

Physical Assessment of the Newborn, Sixth Edition, addresses the physical, physiologic, neurologic, and behavioral implications of a thorough assessment, and explains how healthcare providers can reduce the risks associated with the transition to extrauterine life and the neonatal period. Grounded with a scientific basis and rationale, each system assessment represents the most up-to-date clinical content. Because assessment skills are such an integral aspect of practice, many individuals take them for granted, yet all health professionals who perform newborn examinations--including nurses, neonatal and pediatric nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, physicians, therapists, and students preparing for advanced practice roles in neonatal care--can benefit from the essential content presented in this book.

New to the Sixth Edition:

• Provides clinical updates throughout
• Presents an enhanced art program
• Offers an all-new chapter on the perinatally substance-exposed neonate
• Includes an image bank and PowerPoints

Key Features:

• Addresses all key aspects of newborn assessment
• Provides a well-organized evaluation of individual body systems
• Assists practitioners in identifying infant state, behavioral clues, and signs of pain
• Examines the wide range of variation among newborns of different gestational ages
• Provides information related to a maternal history, including antepartum testing and intrapartum monitoring
• Written in an easy-to-read, user-friendly style
• Includes continuing education exam