The first and second editions of this book were conceived to provide distilled, up-to-date information to nursing students and staff nurses about many conditions and diagnoses encountered in
nursing practice. With the third edition, we have responded to the ever-changing health care
environment as well as to the recommendations of our readers and editors. We have held true to
our initial purpose in this third edition: to provide a ready source of information for nurses in a
time of short staffing, brief lengths of stay, and increasing patient acuity in the hospital, in nursing homes, in rehabilitation centers, and in the home. We have also responded to the everincreasing need for nurses to understand the scientific basis of their practice by augmenting the pathophysiology sections that were in the past two editions.