Nurse Key

CHAPTER 16 Fever Fever is an elevation of temperature above the normal daily variation and is a symptom of an underlying process. The major common cause of fever is infection;…

CHAPTER 2 Abdominal pain Abdominal pain is a subjective feeling of discomfort in the abdomen that can be caused by a variety of problems. The goal of initial clinical assessment…

CHAPTER 36 Weight loss/gain (unintentional) Unintentional weight loss is a decrease in body weight that is not voluntary. Weight loss in the adult is clinically significant when it exceeds 5%…

CHAPTER 33 Vaginal bleeding The average menstrual cycle is 28 days. It is considered abnormal if the cycle occurs more often than every 21 days (polymenorrhea) or less often than…

CHAPTER 11 Diarrhea Next to respiratory disease, acute gastroenteritis is the most common illness in families in the United States. Most cases are of viral origin and are self-limiting. In…

CHAPTER 5 Breast lumps and nipple discharge From 80% to 90% of all breast lumps are found by the woman or her partner before diagnosis through clinical breast examination (CBE)…

CHAPTER 3 Affective changes A large percentage of primary care visits have psychological or psychosocial origins. A practitioner must first rule out organic causes for symptoms, mood changes, and behavior…

CHAPTER 31 Urinary incontinence Urinary incontinence is any involuntary loss of urine. It occurs as a result of pathological, anatomical, psychological, or physiological factors that produce obstruction, bladder irritability, or…

CHAPTER 25 Rashes and skin lesions Dermatological problems result from a number of mechanisms, including inflammatory, infectious, immunological, and environmental (traumatic and exposure-induced). At times, the mechanism may be readily…

CHAPTER 34 Vaginal discharge and itching Vaginitis is an inflammation of the vagina that can cause vaginal discharge. Vaginal infections are common in postpubertal women. Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida, and bacterial…