This book has arisen primarily in response to the increasing concern
expressed about the perceived lack of ability in both students and
newly qualified staff nurses to perform clinical skills. This deficit
has been largely attributed to the advent of Project 2000 and the
subsequent move of nurse education into Higher Education. Innovations
in nursing such as the Nursing Process, Nursing Models and new methods
of organizing care delivery, each with their emphasis on providing
individualized nursing care, may also have exacerbated this problem.
These initiatives have largely resulted in the demise of procedure
manuals as a source of reference in many clinical areas. Consequently
nurses and the increasing number of health care workers in new roles
such as cadet nurses, health care assistants and generic ward
practitioners no longer have an easily accessible source of reference
in the clinical arena. This is particularly problematic when they are
faced with undertaking a procedure for the first time.