Foundations of Maternal-Newborn and Women's Health Nursing

Book excerpt: With easy-to-read coverage of nursing care for women and newborns, Foundations of Maternal-Newborn & Women's Health Nursing, 6th Edition shows how to provide safe, competent care in the clinical setting. Evidence-based guidelines and step-by-step instructions for assessments and interventions help you quickly master key skills and techniques. Also emphasized is the importance of understanding family, communication, culture, client teaching, and clinical decision making. Written by specialists in maternity nursing, Sharon Smith Murray and Emily Slone McKinney, this text reflects the latest QSEN competencies, and the accompanying Evolve website includes review questions to prepare you for the NCLEX® exam! Nursing Care Plans help you apply the nursing process to clinical situations. Procedure boxes provide clear instructions for performing common maternity skills, with rationales for each step. UNIQUE! Therapeutic Communications boxes present realistic nurse-patient dialogues, identifying communication techniques and showing to respond when encountering communication blocks. Communication Cues offer tips for interpreting patients' and families' verbal and nonverbal communication. Critical Thinking exercises focus on clinical situations designed to test your skills in prioritizing and critical thinking. Updated drug guides list important indications, adverse reactions, and nursing considerations for the most commonly used medications. Check Your Reading helps you assess your mastery of key content. Critical to Remember boxes highlight and summarize need-to-know information. Want to Know boxes provide guidelines for successful client education. Glossary provides definitions of all key terms. NEW! Safety Alerts help you develop competencies related to QSEN and safe nursing practice. NEW! Unfolding case studies help you apply what you've learned to practice. UPDATED Evidence-Based Practice boxes highlight the latest research and the most current QSEN (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses) practice guidelines for quality care. UPDATED content includes the late preterm infant, fetal heart rate pattern identification, obesity in the pregnant woman, and the QSEN competencies.