Nurses working in the community need to be increasingly flexible, innovative and well informed. This comprehensive book is designed to help them meet this challenge. It covers the common core of knowledge for all community health care nurses, and focuses on the applications of principles to community care. Developed from a research base and written at degree level, it encompasses professional and governmental policies and their implications for practice. Its key features include: it is research-based; it is extensively referenced; offers guidance for research projects in the community; offers in-depth coverage of key issues; it is an essential background reading for community practice and placements; it highlights the context of nursing and the life course; and it changes the implications for practice. The wide range of contributors, selected for their specialist knowledge in practice, education and research, reflects the complexity of nursing in the community. Authoritative and well written, the book is an ideal resource for both practitioners and students alike who wish to test their ideas or to pursue certain topics in more detail. Many of the issues raised and the principles covered are of international relevance and the book will stimulate lively discussion amongst community health care nurses wherever they practice.