Designed for shorter pediatric and maternity nursing courses, this useful textbook provides students with the right amount of maternity and pediatric content in an up-to-date, easy-to-understand manner. Divided into two sections, the first part of the book includes 28 chapters covering maternity nursing content and the second part contains 27 chapters covering pediatric nursing content. Numerous illustrations, photos, and tables help illustrate and clarify the information for the student. Many special boxes, pedagogical features, and an inviting full-color design also help make key information easy to find and review. Expert authors ensure delivery of accurate and up-to-date maternity and pediatric content. Authors clear writing style makes content easy to read and understand. Focus on the family throughout emphasizes the influence of family in health and illness. Nursing Care Plans, including rationales for interventions, provide students with an overview and specific guidelines for delivering effective nursing care. Nurse Alerts point out critical information that students should not overlook when treating patients. Boxed information: Guideline boxes outline nursing procedures in an easy-to-follow fashion; Emergency boxes highlight emergency procedures in a step-by-step format to help students understand how to perform them; Home Care boxes provide detailed information to help prepare students to deliver care to patients and families in the home setting; Atraumatic Care boxes teach students to provide competent care without creating undue physical or psychological stress to the patient; Community Focus boxes emphasize community issues, providing resources and guidance to illustrate nursing care in a variety of settings; Patient Teaching boxes explore important information nurses need to pass on to families and children; Cultural Awareness boxes provide students with information to help them deliver culturally competent care.; Family Focus boxes explain the needs or concerns that families should consider when family-centered care is provided. Critical Thinking Exercises provide students with case scenarios that depict real life situations to help them choose the best intervention and make good clinical judgements. A free Companion CD-ROM including case studies, NCLEX review questions, care planning exercises, and nursing skills outlines. Also, included are videos of a vaginal birth, a Caesarean birth, the assessment of a pregnant woman, the assessment of a neonate, and pediatric assessment skills from infant to adolescent. Spanish-English guidelines boxes and appendix help students translate key words and phrases to better serve Spanish-speaking patients. Chronic Illness, Disability, and End-of-Life Care chapter has been extensively revised to include new information on palliative and end-of-life care. Evidence-Based Practice boxes focus students attention on the application of both research and critical thought processes to support and guide the outcomes of nursing care.