This work takes a comprehensive approach to nursing that includes an emphasis on assessment, wellness and health promotion, as well as coverage of care of the elderly. It provides extensive information on CDC guidelines, AIDS and situations requiring added safety precautions. Each step of the nursing process is covered in individual chapters, with clear logos to highlight important subjects such as nursing diagnoses, outcome criteria, blood and body fluid precautions. Features new to this edition include: extensively revised chapters, including those on fluid, ethnicity and culture, family and community health and late adulthood; an entire chapter on critical thinking; and coverage of new procedures including using an ambularm safety-monitoring device, using a pulse oximeter and managing pain with a patient-controlled analgesia pump (PCA).