Book excerpt: The book consists of many applications of general nursing and scientific principles to the Indian situation which is quite different from those in foreign countries where the climatic, cultural, religious and social backgrounds differ greatly from those in India. Indian students need help in applying these principles to the problems faced in their own country. This edition has been written to strike a balance between the existing new developments and the vast quantity of established facts that need to be absorbed by the students of today . It was also tried to produce a detailed yet comprehensive text that bridges the gap between the purely introductory and the larger reference works. The aim throughout in the preparation of this present edition was to ensure that it is factually correct and upto-date.