This innovative text uses concrete examples and hands-on exercises to help students clearly understand and apply the five steps of the nursing process to today's rapidly changing healthcare environment. Instead of giving step-by-step instructions on how to use the nursing process in practice, it encourages students to critically think about each step of the nursing process and use critical thinking to make better clinical decisions. Wellness concepts and independent critical thinking, major emphases of this text, are incorporated into each step of the nursing process. Case studies and exercises provide students opportunities to apply the concepts presented to real world situations.