Book excerpt: Bacteriology for Nurses provide nurses and others who are associated with medicine with a simple outline of basic bacteriology and the applications of bacteriology to medicine and to nursing. The fundamentals of medical bacteriology, namely the anatomy and physiology of bacteria, infection, and the body defenses against infection are discussed. The bacteria which cause common diseases of various sites in the body, such as the respiratory tract and the gastrointestinal tract, are considered together. Only common and important infections are included. Comprised of 15 chapters, this book begins with a historical background on bacteriology, followed by a discussion on the biology of bacteria. A classification of bacteria is then presented, and infections caused by bacteria are described. Subsequent chapters focus on body defenses against bacterial infections; rickettsiae and viruses; pyogenic and chronic bacterial infections; and collection of bacteriological specimens as part of bacteriological diagnosis. Infections of the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and the nervous system are also analyzed. The final chapter is devoted to elementary parasitology. This monograph will be of interest to nurses as well as immunologists, bacteriologists, pathologists, physiologists, clinicians, and research workers in the field of medicine.