The role and importance of research in nursing has grown considerably in the last ten years, and research is increasingly used to help to establish guidelines for nursing practice. Reviewing, analysing and criticising research is a vital means of building up evidence for care, increasingly replacing opinion and experience. Nurses are now required to rationalise their care and produce research justifications for nursing interventions. This book addresses the major challenges in patient care, reviewing the research in relation to each symptom or problem - for example, pain and discomfort, anxiety and depression, communication difficulties, sexual problems, disorientation and confusion, sleep disturbance, malnutrition, mobility problems, breathlessness, bowel and urinary dysfunction, and delayed recovery.