Already established as an essential coursebook for nursing students and practitioners, the Second Edition of this comprehensive text continues to explore a range of nursing topics central to undergraduate programmes. Areas covered include health promotion research, curriculum development, psychology, sociology and the carer-client relationship thus reflecting the direction nursing knowledge has taken over the past decade in terms of higher education and academic research. The Second edition brings together expert contributors who cover a range of issues relevant to the social practice of nursing; the subjects selected represent a core for an explicit nursing knowledge base even though a national curriculum has yet to be established.