Countless physicians, medical students, and therapists can describe a similar experience at one time or another during their training: a patient is behind the door in an examination room and the daily schedule has the words “shoulder pain” listed as the chief complaint. Depending on one’s experience or comfort level, many questions may immediately flood one’s mind regarding how to approach the patient: What are the various causes of shoulder pain? Is the pain really coming from the shoulder? What structures are important in the shoulder? What aspects of the physical examination will help distinguish one shoulder problem from another? The physical examination of musculoskeletal and peripheral nervous system problems is essential knowledge for broad areas of healthcare, as these problems are among the leading reasons for medical encounters. This pocket reference offers instant access to a wide array of clinical pearls to guide the physical examination and diagnosis. Whether one can choose to keep the print copy handy or use the digital version on our phone or tablet, our answer is quickly within reach. In this updated and refreshed second edition, one can search by body part or suspected diagnosis and find detailed descriptions of physical examination maneuvers, along with associated evidence of sensitivity and specificity, to help us with our diagnosis. Additionally, the reader will find all new colorized illustrations, high-resolution photos demonstrating the maneuvers, and corresponding videos that bring the examination to life. Video icons throughout chapters indicate which tests include an accompanying video. There is no substitute for excellent physical diagnosis skills. The authors hope that one will find this book useful as one develop and fine-tune their skills in order to give patients the very best care.

The goal of this book is to teach the ability to form an autonomous and clinically useful opinion about any 12-lead electrocardiogram (EKG). It introduces basic principles of anatomy and physiology, including a review of the heart’s electrical system. The heart has an intricate electrical system, made up of highly specialized cells, that is responsible for generating each heart beat. The heart’s electrical system consists of five structures: the sinoatrial (SA node), the atrioventricular (AV node), the bundle of His, the right and left bundle branches, and the Purkinje fibers. One of the most basic yet important pieces of information the EKG provides is the heart rate (HR). The most accurate way to measure heart rate is by measuring the R-R interval. Learning the normal electrical direction of forces in the heart provides a simple and scientific way of understanding and interpreting an EKG. The book also discusses vital elements of cardiology, such as atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, conduction abnormalities and heart block, ischemic and nonischemic disorders, and more. It explains various types of heart blocks such as premature atrial contraction, sinus arrest and asystole, and various types of pacemakers such as ventricular pacemaker and artrial pacemakers. Drug effects and toxicities, electrolyte imbalances, trauma, pericardial diseases, lung disease, cancer, cardiomyopathies, and systemic diseases are conditions that can cause specific changes on the EKG.

This book was designed to be a high-speed review—a last-minute gut check before the exam day. The authors created this review, which is a quick summary of the key topics one’ll encounter on the exam, to supplement to their certification preparation studies. They encourages the readers to use it in conjunction with other study aids to ensure they are as prepared as possible for the exam. This book, written by certified critical care nurses, follows the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ (AACN®) most recent exam content outline, and uses a succinct, bulleted format to highlight what one need to know. It will help the readers solidify their retention of information in the month or so leading up to their exam. Special features appear throughout the book to call out important information, including: complications: Problems that can arise with certain disease states or procedures; pearls: Additional patient care insights and strategies for knowledge retention; Alerts: Need-to-know details on how to handle emergency situations; pop quizzes: Critical-thinking questions to test your ability to synthesize what you learned; medication tables: Handy tables at the end of each body system chapter highlighting the indications, mechanisms of action, contraindications, and adverse effects of commonly administered medications; and list of abbreviations: A useful appendix to help guide us through the alphabet soup of clinical terms. We know life is busy. Being able to prepare for our exam efficiently and effectively is paramount, which is why the authors created this book. One have come to the right place as they continue on their path of professional growth and development. The stakes are high, and the authors want to help us succeed.

This book presents a research-driven, competency-based approach for the health and human service professionals who work with older rural residents. It discusses both the problems facing older adults and their families and evidence-based solutions regarding policy and best practices. The book contains 13 chapters, organized into five parts. The first part provides an introduction to aging in rural places, including the overwhelming task of defining what is meant by “rural” and presenting demographics, descriptions, and the diversity of rural communities. It offers a picture of persons aging in rural areas, including their challenges and strengths, with special consideration for social and ethnic minorities within this population. Whereas the second part focuses on the health status and the specific health and human service needs and opportunities of rural older adults and their focuses on needs and opportunities, the third part moves toward addressing these issues with health and human services available to rural older adults and their families. The fourth part examines the role of health and human service professionals who work with rural older adults and their families in these programs and services, with attention to interdisciplinary practice and professional competency. In addition to the aforementioned content, the book offers several unique features, including the following: case examples, professional competencies, useful websites, suggested activities and exercises, discussion questions, PowerPoint slides, and instructors manual with test question bank.

Ambulatory electroencephalography (aEEG) monitoring is not limited to the home environment. It is a useful diagnostic test to evaluate an individual in whom seizures or seizure-like episodes are suspected in their natural environment wherever that may be. This book reviews some of the background distinctions for the technique of aEEG and instrumentation and polygraphic aEEG recording. aEEG monitoring often yields information in the evaluation of epilepsy and in the differential diagnosis of other conditions that mimic epilepsy including psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), syncope, cardiogenic etiologies, parasomnias, migraine, and transient ischemic attacks. The book discusses the yield of aEEG and compares it with other short- and long-term monitoring techniques in epilepsy. It then provides a thorough assessment of ambulatory sleep studies. Chronic intracranial aEEG monitoring is covered with a new type of aEEG monitoring to provide not only electrocorticography but also encompass treatment using neuromodulation. The book also delivers an inside look at aEEG in the future with development of “wearables” that will allow us to learn new information that involves not only detection but prediction. The practical implications of aEEG involved in proper coding and billing are also reviewed. Case histories are included of patients evaluated with aEEG to underscore key points of practical value.

Everyone loves animals. We learn about them in zoos and aquariums, rehabilitate them when they’re sick, observe their habits and abilities, and treat them as members of our families. One theme that is intentionally woven throughout the book is the importance of knowing a species’ natural history before making assumptions or drawing conclusions about an animal’s behavior. The book consists of eight chapters. All chapters include an “Animal Spotlight” and “Human Application” section. The book is divided into one history chapter, one theory and methods chapter, five content chapters, and a final chapter on future directions. In addition, it pays special attention to describing the different ways that researchers set up their studies to arrive at their conclusions. Chapter one and two discusses the history and methodology of animal cognition. Chapter three discusses animal consciousness. It takes an in-depth look at how philosophers and scientists have defined consciousness, specific cognitive abilities that might signal consciousness, and which animals can be said to have them, or a version of them. The main topics covered include theory of mind, self-awareness, and emotions. Chapter four focuses on communication. It addresses many different ways that animals communicate with each other, including vocal, gestural, and olfactory. Social cognition is featured in Chapter five. Social cognition involves the many complex ways in which animals engage socially among themselves. Chapter six addresses the overall flexibility of the animal mind. For centuries, there have been those who believe animals are mindless behaving machines. Finally, Chapter seven reminds that despite the fact research findings teaches what species on the whole can do, not all animals within a species are the same; individual differences exist. The final chapter eight brings everything together.

This book is a “how-to” guide that describes the problem-solving method in detail. It provides an overview of the method, and step-by-step instructions, tips, tools, activities, and cases to facilitate practicing and learning the problem-solving method. The problem-solving method comprises of three phases, each of which has several steps namely how to define the problem, how to study the problem, and how to decide upon and implement the best course of action to resolve the problem. It imposes a logical thought process that builds leadership competencies in accurately and effectively defining problems, especially around very complex organizational issues that may involve multiple root causes, and supports arriving at recommendations that get implemented and actually solve the problem at hand. The book is especially useful in supporting experiential learning and coaching for students and professionals early in their careers—specifically providing a problem-solving method and tools for students, student teams, and early careerists working with healthcare organizations on consulting projects, or on projects as an administrative intern, resident, or fellow. It assists in facilitating teaching a structured approach to problem-solving and decision-making in undergraduate or graduate level case study, experiential learning, problem-solving and management decision-making courses. The book also supports teaching leadership and problem-solving skills in early careerist leadership training programs within organizations. It will be instructive for organizations that wish to enhance the problem-solving and decision making skills of its workforce more broadly. Organizations who adopt the text as part of their administrative fellowship development programs will find benefit in using the Problem-Solving Method as a structured approach to support the success of fellows in developing their ability to excel on their assigned organizational projects.

This atlas serves as a comprehensive working reference for a wide range of clinicians practicing in the field of clinical neurophysiology (CNP). It highlights the traps and pitfalls associated with artifact when interpreting studies involving CNP. Various forms of neurophysiological procedures are performed routinely at local CNP laboratories throughout the world. They are interpreted by neurologists and neurophysiologists including studies involving electroencephalography (EEG); electromyography (EMG); and nerve conductions studies (NCS), sleep, autonomic neurophysiology, evoked potentials (EP); and magnetoencephalography (MEG). It illustrates common and rare types of artifacts that may be encountered by the clinical practitioner during the course of performing CNP studies. The book provides an explanatory text with samples of artifact that emphasize essential principals existing within individual fields of CNP. It is developed in atlas form to facilitate easy interpretation for the busy clinician practitioner. The book comprises of 14 chapters. Chapter one provides an overview of CNP. Chapter two focuses on an explanation of analog recording concepts and provides explanation of important digital recording concepts. Chapter three illustrates the impact of artifact in pediatric studies involving the peripheral nervous system. Chapter four describes artifacts of neuromonitoring. Chapter five addresses continuous EEG monitoring in ICU patients. Next two chapters discuss artifacts in pediatric and adult electroencephalography. Chapter eight addresses pediatric and adult magnetoencephalography. Chapter nine reviews the difficulties encountered with artifact involved when performing EMG and NCS. Chapters ten through thirteen address artifacts in autonomic neurophysiology studies, polysomnography, evoked potential recordings, and neurophysiologic intraoperative monitoring. The final chapter discusses the most common techniques for artifact reduction.

This book is the first resource fully dedicated to quantitative EEG (QEEG) analysis, tailored for physicians or EEG technologists who work with critically ill patients. With the rise of continuous EEG monitoring in intensive care, clinicians are increasingly called on to make real-time clinical judgments with little formal guidance on how to interpret QEEG. The book is configured to meet daily practice challenges. It addresses not only technical fundamentals, but also provides numerous examples of signature QEEG patterns and artifacts to instruct both untrained and experienced eyes. The book walks the reader from essential principles all the way through to practical pattern recognition. With full-page reference samples pairing raw EEG with quantitative EEG spectrograms, brief clinical vignettes, and explanatory captions noting significant features, it provides a roadmap for understanding and applying QEEG data in critically ill patients. The book contains more than 400 full-page vivid color QEEG examples paired with raw EEG to build interpretive skills and enhance clinical decision-making. It presents thorough discussions of both normal and abnormal findings and QEEG artifacts that set the standard for effective use of quantitative electroencephalography and trend analysis in the ICU. The book is organized into three sections. Section one presents the principles of quantitative electroencephalography. Section two discusses the clinical practice of quantitative electroencephalography. Section three describes the artifacts in quantitative electroencephalography. Complete with a broad range of patterns and page after page of full-color samples, the book is designed to be the authoritative QEEG reference for neurologists, intensivists, technologists, and trainees working in critical care settings.

The practice of neonatal electroencephalography (EEG) combines clinical medicine and biomedical technology. This book consists of chapters concerning the approach to visual analysis, techniques of recording, artifacts of noncerebral origin, age-dependent normal findings, patterns of uncertain diagnostic significance, age-dependent abnormal EEG findings, and seizures. Chapters consist of explanatory text, tables, a list of figures, and the sample EEGs themselves with their legends. In presenting samples, the authors have emphasized specific components of the neonatal EEG. The basic principles of visual analysis and interpretation of the electroencephalogram (EEG) that applies to older patients also generally apply to neonates, although with some additional special considerations. The general principles of recording the EEG apply to the recording of the EEG in neonates with some important additions and exceptions. The differentiation of true brain electrical activity from extraneous artifacts is critical to the interpretation of neonatal EEG. Visual analysis of the neonatal EEG requires the recognition of the conceptional age-dependent features characteristic of specific epochs of development. The book electrographic features in four different formats: a table that lists specific elements, a narrative that describes the continuum of development, and a summary by epoch of conceptional age (CA) of the expected elements. A number of waveforms and patterns have not been reported to occur in normal infants. Sharp waves or sharp-and-slow-wave complexes are commonly recorded from the midtemporal region during sleep in apparently normal premature and term infants. Temporal sharp waves classified as normal are usually mono- or diphasic. The book also discusses disordered maturational development, maturational abnormalities and neonatal seizures.