This book provides Nurse Practitioners in the field of acute medicine with an up to date, practical and comprehensive guide for the management of acute medical patients. It serves as a text from which the busy highly skilled nurse can information on the assessment to obtain diagnosis, and management of acute illnesses. It identifies priorities for treatment and guides the reader through the treatment of patients. Wherever possible, the latest published guidelines were included. The last chapter of the book considers the legal, technical and ethical issues faced by nurses working at an advanced level. The issues of role development, the development of protocols and prescribing are considered.