Jarvis Physical Examination and Health Assessment is Elsevier’s health assessment textbook for nursing students, written by Carolyn Jarvis and, since the 9th edition, Ann L. Eckhardt. Its 32 chapters move from the interview and health history to a regional physical exam of each body system, then a full head-to-toe assessment. Study it one system at a time: read, practice on a partner, then document what you found.
Key takeaways
- The current edition is the 9th (Jarvis and Eckhardt; released 2023, copyright 2024; print ISBN 978-0-323-80984-9). The 8th (copyright 2020) and 7th (2016) are by Jarvis alone.
- The 8th and 9th editions share the same 32-chapter order. Only two chapters were retitled, so chapter numbers line up between them.
- Every body-system chapter follows one pattern: structure and function, subjective data, objective data, documentation and critical thinking, abnormal findings, and health promotion.
- The abdomen is the exception to the usual technique order: listen to bowel sounds before you palpate.
- NCSBN’s 2026 NCLEX-RN test plan lists techniques of physical assessment under Health Promotion and Maintenance, a category worth 6–12% of items.
About Jarvis Physical Examination and Health Assessment
Elsevier calls it the most widely used health assessment text in nursing and lists its readership as ADN and BSN students. The formal title is Physical Examination and Health Assessment, by Carolyn Jarvis, a professor emerita at Illinois Wesleyan University’s School of Nursing and a retired nurse practitioner. Ann L. Eckhardt of the University of Texas at Arlington joined her for the 9th edition.
A library record for the 9th edition lists copyrights back to 1993. Elsevier counts more than 1,100 color illustrations, plus online exam videos, heart, lung and abdominal sound clips, and checklists.
Editions, pocket companion and lab manual
Check the ISBN-13 on your copyright page first, because study aids are matched to one edition. Our guide on how to find the ISBN of a book shows where to look.
| Title | Authors | Date | Print ISBN-13 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7th edition | Jarvis | © 2016 | 978-1-4557-2810-7 |
| 8th edition | Jarvis | © 2020 | 978-0-323-51080-6 |
| 9th edition (current) | Jarvis, Eckhardt | © 2024 (out 2023) | 978-0-323-80984-9 |
| Pocket Companion, 9th | Jarvis, Eckhardt | Dec 2022 | 978-0-323-82784-3 |
| Study Guide & Lab Manual, 9th | Jarvis, Eckhardt | Jan 2023 | 978-0-323-82780-5 |
| Pocket Companion, 10th | Eckhardt, Bertschi | Listed for 2027 | 978-0-443-28169-3 |
The Pocket Companion (336 pages) summarizes exam steps and normal versus abnormal findings for lab and clinicals. The Study Guide & Laboratory Manual adds terminology reviews, clinical judgment questions and regional write-up sheets. Buy either only if your syllabus lists it.
How the Book Is Organized by Body System
The 32 chapters sit in four units, as listed in Elsevier’s contents for the matching 9th-edition lab manual: Assessment of the Whole Person (chapters 1 to 7), Approach to the Clinical Setting (8 to 12), Physical Examination (13 to 27, one chapter per region or system) and Integration (28 to 32: the complete exam, children, bedside charting, pregnancy and older adults).
Each regional chapter uses the same layout, which makes the Jarvis nursing book easy to study once you see it: anatomy, the questions to ask, the hands-on exam, charting, then abnormal findings. The table is the short version for seven core systems.
| System | Ch. | Techniques | Unexpected findings to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skin, hair, nails | 13 | Inspect, palpate | Jaundice or cyanosis; petechiae; capillary refill over 3 seconds |
| Thorax and lungs | 19 | Inspect, palpate, percuss, auscultate | Accessory muscle use; unequal chest expansion; crackles, wheezes or stridor |
| Heart and neck vessels | 20 | Inspect, palpate, auscultate | Heave, lift or thrill; apical pulse left of the midclavicular line; new murmur, S3 or S4 |
| Peripheral vascular | 21 | Inspect, palpate | Jugular vein distention; weak, absent or bounding pulses; new or worsening edema |
| Abdomen | 22 | Inspect, auscultate, then percuss and palpate | Visible peristalsis; hypoactive, hyperactive or absent bowel sounds; rigidity or rebound tenderness |
| Musculoskeletal | 23 | Inspect, palpate, range of motion | Reduced range of motion; strength 3/5 or less; hot, swollen, painful joint |
| Neurologic | 24 | Inspect, penlight, strength, balance tests | Unequal or sluggish pupils; tongue off midline; positive Romberg |
Jarvis Physical Examination and Health Assessment: 8th vs 9th Edition
The chapter skeleton didn’t change. Comparing Elsevier’s two contents lists, all 32 chapters keep their numbers; only chapter 7 (now Family Violence and Human Trafficking) and chapter 31 (now Pregnancy) were renamed.
The content did change. Elsevier’s 9th-edition description adds NCSBN’s Clinical Judgment Measurement Model for the Next Generation NCLEX, skin conditions shown on light and dark skin, expanded transgender considerations, social determinants of health and QSEN concepts. Our explainer on NGN question types shows what clinical judgment items look like.
An honest note on our catalog: our Jarvis test banks match the 8th and 7th editions, not the 9th. Chapter numbers line up, so an 8th-edition set follows a 9th-edition reading schedule, but it won’t cover the newer material. Elsevier also lists a 10th-edition Pocket Companion for 2027, so recheck your syllabus ISBN each term.
How to Study Each System: Read, Practice, Document
Work each system in three passes spread over several days: learn what to ask, practice the hands-on exam on a classmate, then write the findings as a short note.
Interview questions
Turn the subjective data section into a card of five or six questions to ask out loud. For the lungs, Open RN’s respiratory assessment chapter covers shortness of breath (onset, triggers, how many pillows at night), cough and sputum, smoking or vaping, and home oxygen or breathing equipment. Memorize its safety rule: if breathlessness is severe or comes with chest pain, stop the interview and get help.
Techniques (IPPA)
IPPA means inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation, covered in Jarvis chapter 8 (assessment techniques). Most regional exams follow that order, but Open RN explains that abdominal palpation should follow auscultation so bowel sounds aren’t disturbed. Open RN also treats percussion as an advanced-practice skill, so check whether your rubric includes it.
Expected vs unexpected findings
Make two-column flashcards: expected on the front, unexpected on the back. Pair them with the abnormal findings section of each Jarvis health assessment chapter and the heart, lung and bowel sound clips. Write findings in charting language, such as “respirations even and unlabored, breath sounds clear bilaterally”, the way you would chart them in clinicals.
- Read structure and function plus subjective data, and write your question card.
- Practice the objective exam on a partner, saying each step out loud.
- Document a three- or four-line note, using the lab manual’s write-up sheet if you have one.
- Quiz yourself on the chapter and log every miss as a one-line rule.
- Revisit last week’s system for ten minutes before starting a new one.
Preparing for the Head-to-Toe Check-Off
Rehearse the whole sequence aloud on a partner until you don’t need notes, following your program’s checklist exactly. Reread Jarvis chapters 28 (the complete adult assessment) and 30 (bedside assessment and electronic documentation) first.
Open RN’s head-to-toe assessment checklist is a useful model of a routine daily assessment. In outline:
- Gather supplies, perform hand hygiene and clean your stethoscope.
- Knock, check for isolation precautions, introduce yourself and confirm the patient with two identifiers.
- Do a quick primary survey (airway, breathing, circulation, responsiveness) and get help if anything is unstable.
- Note a general survey, the reason for care and pain, and obtain or review vital signs.
- Assess neuro, head and neck, cardiovascular, respiratory and abdominal systems, then anything else your checklist names.
- Report unexpected findings per agency protocol, then document.
Practice with a timer and narrate as you go (“I’m listening at the second intercostal space, right sternal border”). Evaluators can only grade what they see or hear, and talking keeps you from skipping a step.
High-Yield Assessment Topics for Written Exams
Give extra review time to four topics: breath sounds, heart sound locations, cranial nerves and the abdominal sequence. They matter beyond the course too: NCSBN’s 2026 NCLEX-RN test plan lists techniques of physical assessment under Health Promotion and Maintenance (6–12% of items).
Lung and heart sounds
Expected breath sounds depend on location: bronchial (loud, high-pitched) over the trachea, bronchovesicular over the major bronchi and vesicular (soft, low-pitched) over most of the lungs. Adventitious sounds, per Open RN:
- Fine crackles: brief, high-pitched popping on inspiration (heart failure, pneumonia).
- Coarse crackles: low-pitched gurgling, mainly on inspiration.
- Rhonchi: low-pitched snoring, usually on expiration, often clearing after a cough.
- Wheezes: high-pitched whistling, usually on expiration (asthma).
- Stridor: harsh and high-pitched on inspiration, from upper-airway obstruction.
- Pleural rub: like leather rubbing, from inflamed pleura.
For the heart, learn “APE To Man”: aortic (second intercostal space, right sternal border), pulmonic (second space, left), Erb’s point (third space, left), tricuspid (fourth space, left) and mitral (fifth space, midclavicular line). S1 is the closure of the mitral and tricuspid valves at the start of systole; S2 is the closure of the semilunar valves and sounds louder over the aortic and pulmonic areas. Open RN’s cardiovascular chapter covers both.
You hear soft, brief, high-pitched popping sounds at both lung bases during inspiration. Which term do you document? A) Rhonchi B) Fine crackles C) Stridor D) Pleural rub
Answer: B. Fine crackles are brief, high-pitched and inspiratory. Rhonchi are low-pitched and usually expiratory, stridor is a harsh upper-airway sound and a pleural rub sounds like rubbing leather.
Neuro and cranial nerves
Learn the 12 nerves in order with one bedside check each. Open RN’s neurological basics gives the name mnemonic (On Old Olympus Towering Tops A Finn And German Viewed Some Hops): three nerves are sensory, five motor and four mixed.
| Nerve | Type | Quick bedside check |
|---|---|---|
| I Olfactory | S | Names a familiar smell, eyes closed |
| II Optic | S | Snellen chart at 20 feet; near card at 14 inches |
| III Oculomotor | M | Pupils equal, round, reactive (PERRLA); eye movement |
| IV Trochlear | M | Follows the penlight through the fields of gaze |
| V Trigeminal | B | Feels a cotton wisp on the face; clenches teeth |
| VI Abducens | M | Moves eyes side to side; no double vision |
| VII Facial | B | Smiles, puffs cheeks, raises eyebrows symmetrically |
| VIII Vestibulocochlear | S | Whispered voice test; balance |
| IX Glossopharyngeal | B | Says “Ah”: uvula rises in the midline; gag present |
| X Vagus | B | Swallows and speaks without difficulty |
| XI Spinal accessory | M | Shrugs and turns head against resistance |
| XII Hypoglossal | M | Sticks out tongue in the midline |
When asked to stick out the tongue, a patient’s tongue points to the left. Which nerve is involved, and on which side? A) Left hypoglossal B) Right hypoglossal C) Left facial D) Right vagus
Answer: A. With one-sided weakness of cranial nerve XII, the tongue points toward the weak side because the normal side’s muscles push unopposed.
Abdomen sequence
Inspect first, with the patient supine and knees supported. Then auscultate, starting in the right lower quadrant and moving clockwise. Only then put your hands on, using light palpation and saving any painful area for last. Open RN notes that counting bowel sounds isn’t recommended and that vascular sounds over the abdomen are a finding to report. Your program sets how long you listen before charting sounds as absent.
Edition-Matched Practice Questions for Health Assessment
Quizzing yourself after each chapter helps facts stick, as our guide to practice testing explains. A textbook test bank gives chapter-by-chapter questions with rationales for one edition. It’s a self-assessment study aid, not a copy of your instructor’s exam.
Publishers write test banks mainly for instructors, and some programs restrict them. Read your honor code and ask your instructor first; if your program prohibits them, don’t use one. Our guide on how to use a nursing test bank covers honest self-testing.
Chapter-matched questions with rationales. Browse all health assessment test banks or the wider nursing test banks range.
- Physical Examination and Health Assessment 8th Edition Test Bank (Jarvis) — 978-0-323-51080-6; chapter numbers match the 9th.
- Physical Examination and Health Assessment 7th Edition Test Bank (Jarvis) — for courses still on the 2016 edition.
- Bates’ Guide to Physical Examination 13th Edition Test Bank (Bickley) — 978-1-4963-9817-8; a 14th edition came out in 2025.
Each test bank is matched to one edition and ISBN-13. Check the number on your book before you buy.
For a 9th-edition set, use our textbook request page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the latest edition of Jarvis?
The 9th edition of Physical Examination and Health Assessment, by Carolyn Jarvis and Ann L. Eckhardt, is the current one. Elsevier released it in 2023 with a 2024 copyright, 32 chapters and print ISBN 978-0-323-80984-9. A 10th-edition Pocket Companion is already listed for 2027, so a new main edition may follow. Match the ISBN on your syllabus, not the newest cover.
Do I need the Jarvis pocket companion?
Only if your syllabus requires it. The Jarvis pocket companion is a 336-page handbook that summarizes exam steps and compares normal and abnormal findings, small enough for lab and clinicals. It’s a condensed reference, not a substitute for the textbook’s chapters. A one-page checklist you write yourself can do a similar job.
Is Jarvis or Bates better for nursing?
Use whichever your course assigns. Jarvis is written for ADN and BSN nursing students. Bates’ Guide, now in a 1,248-page 14th edition (2025), is longer and written for students and practitioners across healthcare, and it now teaches point-of-care ultrasound alongside the exam. For a first nursing assessment course, Jarvis is the more direct fit.
How do I study for a health assessment exam?
Go system by system. For each chapter, write the interview questions, practice the techniques on a partner, and make flashcards of expected versus unexpected findings. Then quiz yourself on that chapter and turn every miss into a short rule. Lung sounds, heart sound locations, cranial nerves and the abdominal order deserve extra review.
How long is a head-to-toe assessment check-off?
There’s no national standard. Each nursing program sets its own time limit, checklist and passing rules, so ask your instructor for the rubric early. Time your practice runs on a classmate until you can finish the full sequence comfortably inside the limit while still narrating each step.
Bottom line: match your edition, then go system by system
Find the ISBN-13 on your copy of Jarvis Physical Examination and Health Assessment today and note whether it is the 7th, 8th or 9th edition. Then take chapter 19 (Thorax and Lungs) through all three passes this week: question card, partner practice and a four-line note. Quiz yourself on it before you open chapter 20.
Sources & further reading
- Elsevier — Physical Examination and Health Assessment, 9th Edition
- Elsevier — Physical Examination and Health Assessment, 8th Edition
- ECU Libraries — catalog record for the 9th edition
- Open RN Nursing Skills 2e — 10.3 Respiratory Assessment
- Open RN Nursing Skills 2e — 6.5 Assessing Cranial Nerves
- Open RN Nursing Skills 2e — 12.3 Gastrointestinal and Genitourinary Assessment
- NCSBN — 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan (PDF)
