The updated Seventh Edition of this respected learning text delivers the clinically essential content psychiatric and mental health nurses need to practice with confidence. Spanning the continuum of care, this edition will help you excel in a range of settings, improve client and family education skills, and build the self-awareness you need as a member of the interdisciplinary care team. The book's wealth of new learning features and dynamic full-color design combine to create an engaging knowledge-builder you'll turn to again and again.

Skill-building features are your guideposts to success!

Bio-psycho-social model provides a solid learning framework that is emphasized throughout the text.

Self-awareness prompts in every chapter challenge you to examine your own beliefs and attitudes about caring for mentally ill clients.

Multiple-choice, NCLEX®-style questions for review and exam preparation include correct and incorrect answers with rationales.

An array of knowledge enhancing features—from Internet resources to Key Terms, Key Concepts, and recurring icons that highlight each step of nursing diagnosis and management—ensure that you never miss a step.

Critical thinking questions and learning activities put your problem-solving abilities to the test.

New to the Seventh Edition...

New chapter on forensic nursing helps you build the observational and investigative abilities key to this evolving area of nursing practice.

New content on spirituality, added to the chapter on cultural and ethical issues, will help you build more effective therapeutic relationships with clients.

Updated psychopharmacological material includes critical information on the latest drugs, their treatment applications, and limitations—plus summary tables that highlight the major drugs used for each disorder.

The latest diagnostic criteria reflect DSM-IV-TR standards.

Evidence-Based Practice Boxes throughout the text stress the value of research findings in guiding treatment choices.

A Student Resource CD-ROM bound into each book includes clinical simulations for major depression and schizophrenia, psychotropic drug monographs, over 300 NCLEX®-style review questions, and movie viewing guides.