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As in the first edition, we have included relevant information about Gender and Life Span Considerations, and have enhanced this section with information about racial and ethnic differences in health and disease. As our society has an ever-increasing diversity, we have developed this section so that practitioners have a basis from which to develop culturally competent care. Each entry begins with the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) category. DRGs were initiated by the Health Care Financing Administration to serve as an organizing framework to grouprelated conditions and to stabilize reimbursements. Because they provide a convenient standard to evaluate hospital care, DRGs are used by institutions and disciplines to measure utilization and to allocate resources. We have included DRGs to indicate the expected norms in average length of stay for each entry. Each entry follows the nursing process, with assessment information incorporated in the History and Physical Assessment sections, the

Unit I, Nursing’s Perspective: Past, Present and Future, explores many aspects that are essential to nursing. A historical overview of early leaders and social forces that have influenced the development of nursing practice is provided. The theoretical frameworks for guiding professional practice and the significance of incorporating research into nursing practice are emphasized. The evolution of our current health care delivery system is discussed with attention given to proposals for change. Unit II, Nursing Process, The Standard of Care, explains each component of the nursing process. The nursing process is the framework for delivering holistic care in an organized scientific manner. A chapter on critical thinking leads the unit discussion of the five phases of the nursing process. Unit III, The Therapeutic Nature of Nursing, discusses the caring nature of nursing as demonstrated through therapeutic communication and actions. Nursing, by definition and purpose, is a therapeutic pr

Vascular disease is a pathological state of large and medium sized muscular arteries and is triggered by endothelial cell dysfunction. Because of factors like pathogens, oxidized LDL particles and other inflammatory stimuli endothelial cells become activated. This leads to change in their characteristics: endothelial cells start to excrete cytokines and chemokinesand express adhesion molecules on their surface. This in turn results in recruitment of white blood cells (monocytes and lymphocytes), which can infiltrate the blood vessel wall. Stimulation of smooth muscle cell layer with cytokines produced by endothelial cells and recruited white blood cells causes smooth muscle cells to proliferate and migrate towards the blood vessel lumen. The process causes thickening of the vessel wall, forming a plaque consisting of proliferating smooth muscle cells, macrophages and various types oflymphocytes. This plaque result in obstructed blood flow leading to diminished amounts of oxygen and nu

This text has been written as a resource for those who provide health care for children and their families. Contributors to the book are experts from a range of backgrounds – both in practice and academia. The contributors firmly believe, that the child comes first and foremost; they believe that each child is a unique person with individual needs and aspirations – this stance is clearly reflected in each chapter of the book. Children deserve the best possible care, and this cannot be provided unless there is an understanding of the context of children’s lives, both in the community at large and within healthcare settings. The concept of partnership focuses upon the need to deliver paediatric care in collaboration with the child and the family.This text encourages the reader to apply this approach to care delivery in any situation in which they may be working. Chapter 2 emphasises the importance of this, looking beyond a disease-orientated approach to one where the child