This easy-to-read text introduces you to the issues and trends you're likely to encounter in any nursing practice setting. Each stand-alone chapter introduces and explores a specific topic and gives insightful discussions of issues such as the health care delivery system, professionalization in nursing, standards and scope of practice, socialization and nursing theories surrounding the profession, and political action facing nurses. Case studies help you empathize with real patients. Critical thinking questions and challenges enable you to apply chapter-relevant information to scenarios and envision a personal philosophy of nursing. Evidence-based Practice boxes offer insight and highlight research that affects patient care. News Notes tie information from the text to real-life nursing situations. Cultural Consideration Challenges help you develop cultural sensitivity and familiarize you with cultural influences. Interview boxes explore the issues of culture and faith from the perspectives of practicing nurses. NEW! Full-color design improves the appearance of the many halftones in the text. NEW! The most up-to-date information on responding to several critical and recent initiatives includes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; the Carnegie Study - Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation; the IOM report on the Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health; QSEN; and the ANA's Health System Reform Agenda. NEW! Expanded content on social media's impact on nursing offers insight into the legal issues, ethics, boundaries, and image of nursing involved in social media. NEW! Increase use of nurses' narratives and real-life work examples helps paint an even clearer picture of the realities of nursing practice. NEW! Reframing of Chapter 16 Nursing's Challenge: The Call for Transformation increases your knowledge of care of self, care of the profession, and care of the environment.