PREFACE<br > Several dilemmas are immediately encountered when one vation， physical and behavioral assessment， and 1~， ，i，<br >contemplates writing a pediatric nursing textbook， such as guidance. An in-depth discussion of health :~，e~，t， ni<br >the amount of content to include， the content to exclude， included in this unit to enable the nurse tt~ u~~ us~c~lu. ，~<br >the depth to which the content should be covered， and the skills to promote wellness and prevent illne~ in 1he d~i.~<br >organization of that content. In attempting to solve these and family. History taking and ph3sieal examlnati， m .Jq.<br >dilemmas， we have chosen to include content that will presented in detail to allow students， graduate nup;e~， dt~，t<br >enable the nurse to provide care for both well and ill chil- educators the opportunity to refine their knov， ledg~ in ih<br >dren. In order to plan， implement， and evaluate compre- expanded area of nursing practice.<br >hensive and individualized nursing care， this care must be Unit three is concerned with preconcep~ual and pre~al~tl<br >based on a firm understanding of facts and principles de- influences on child health and well-being: Unit four qr~>~<br >rived from biologic， physical， and behavioral sciences， the importance of the neonatal period， a time of greatc~t ri~k<br >Incorporating these concepts into a single volume has to survival. Units five to eight present the major d~c，，eh~p-<br >necessitated a lengthy book. mental stages outlined in Unit one. which are e~.pandcd t，，<br > The topics chosen for discussion are those that we believe provide the reader with a broader concept of these ~tagc~<br >are relevant， common， or complex and in which nursing and the health problems most often associated with them<br >care plays a prominent role. Although some rare health Special emphasis is placed on the preventive aspc~ ，，t<br >problems or disorders have been deleted in light of book care. Unit nine deals with children who have the ~arne dc~ el-<br >size， the principles and concepts of nursing practice have opmental needs as growing children but who， becau ，e ，，t<br >been elaborated on to allow both beginning students and congenital or early-acquired physical or mental impairrnent.<br >practitioners of nursing an opportunity to expand and refine require alternative interventions to facilitate developnlent<br > their nursing care. Summaries. using a conceptual approach The second part of the book， consisting of Units ten t~， si <-<br > to nursing care. are found throughout the text and are re- teen， is concerned with the more serious health problem~<br > lated to the more significant and multifaceted problems of infants and children that frequentl> necessitate hospital<br > requiring nursing intervention. They are designed to serve ization. It follows a biologic systems orientation， v， hich h~<br > as a concise guide to the most relevant goals for nursing the practical organizational value of permitting hcahh piob<br > care with the associated nursing responsibilities. It is hoped lems and nursing considerations to relate t， ~pec~ti~ palh，，<br > that the summaries will help the nurse appreciate the physiologic disturbances. It also is a convenient m~!hod-t<br > medical and psychologic needs of the child and family and presenting those health deviations that are tn~t pe~.uJ~4r t*，<br > the immediate as well as long-range goals necessary to one particular age-group. It is expected that the reader ~.ili<br > restore and promote health， incorporate into the discussions of various rnedk tl c~，nd，<br > There are two general approaches to the material pre- tions the principles of growth and development tr，，m lh，-<br > sented. In Units one to nine the health problems of infancy earlier chapters to formulate a care plan that is indi~ ~du，，I<br > and childhood are considered in a developmental frame- ized to the needs of each child.<br > work， stressing the importance of the nurse s role in health Regardless of the way in which a book is organized， ，-<br > promotion and maintenance. Unit one provides a longitu- certain amount of repetition of content is inevitable， but v.c<br > dinal view of the child as an individual on a continuum of have attempted to minimize this through the u~e t，f :~ ~，，n-<br > developmental changes from birth through adolescence and ceptual approach to common problems ~ hene .er po，sibic<br > as a member of a family unit maturing within a culture and a and through cross-references. We recognize that many ot<br > community. Unit two is concerned with the principles and the clinical conditions selected represent more than one<br > skills of nursing assessment， including interviewing， obser- problem. Therefore. we ha~e placed them according t~， the-<br > ix<br >