Critical Care Nursing traces the evolution of critical care nursing from battlefields and the hospital recovery rooms of earlier decades to the modern units of today. It also discusses the social, political, and economic factors that have led to its growth. Combining archival sources with personal interviews, Critical Care Nursing reveals the important place critical care occupies in America's complex health care delivery system and the crucial role specialized nursing plays in the shaping and delivery of that care.

Foreword by: Gladys M. Campbell, Barbara Siebeit