Legal knowledge is essential in a complex, dynamic and increasingly litigious working environment. A knowledge of ethics is equally important. Many situations which a nurse may encounter have both legal and ethical implications. Expensive litigation may be avoided if a nurse can recognize potential legal problems. This book provides practical perspectives on key legal and ethical issues in nursing, midwifery and health visiting. The emphasis is on the application of legal and ethical principles, and the illustrations of the relationship between law and ethics in a nursing and medical context. It gives practical case study examples. The chapters in part two contain both legal and ethical perspectives on more specialist topics, including negligence, consent, resource allocation, mental health nursing, the critically ill patient and research.