Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents: The nature of nursing: Principles of nursing and evidence-based practice -- Legal and ethical aspects of nursing -- Health care delivery systems -- Culture and heritage -- Health beliefs and practices -- The Nursing process: Critical thinking and clinical reasoning -- The nursing process -- Informatics, documentation and reporting -- Development and family health: Promoting health throughout the lifespan -- Promoting health in elders -- Promoting health in the family -- Integral aspects of nursing: Caring -- Communication -- Teaching -- Leading, managing and delegating -- Assessing health: Vital signs -- Health assessment -- Pain management -- Integral components of client care: Asepsis -- Diagnostic testing -- Safety -- Hygiene -- Medications -- Skin Integrity and wound care -- Perioperative nursing -- Promoting psychosocial health: Sensory perception -- Self-concept -- Sexuality -- Spiritually -- Coping with stress, loss and death -- Promoting physiologic health: Activity, exercise and sleep -- Nutrition -- Urinary elimination -- Fecal elimination -- Oxygenation and circulation -- Fluid, electrolyte and acid-base --