Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses nurses’ how to carry out the most essential nursing skills, explains the theory and rationale behind these skills and explores how their interactions with patient’s impact on the care they deliver. There has been an increasing disregard for essential and basic care skills and a lack of recognition of the importance of these skills as part of the care/treatment programme. The importance of essential skills such as caring, compassion and communication are recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. These essential skills are relevant for all health and social care workers. The theoretical half of nurses’ course exists to back up their practical skills, to ensure that they can make evidence-based care decisions and to develop their clinical reasoning skills.