ABSTRACT
From the first ten chapters in this book, it can be seen that community nurses are now working within an exciting context where the potential for role development and expansion is unprecedented; this role growth has been brought about by three things. First, new nurse-led primary care initiatives such as walk-in centres, have given rise to the creation of new roles. Second, roles which, until recently have been accepted and perpetuated as 'traditional', particularly those of doctors, are increasingly being adopted and practised by nurses. Third, large numbers of people who in the past, would have been cared for in other settings, are now remaining in their own homes, necessitating the design and delivery of increasingly complex and varied, packages of care.
