Gain the essential knowledge and skills you need to succeed as a psychiatric nurse! Varcarolis' Essentials of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing: A Communication Approach to Evidence Based Care, 5th Edition provides a concise, easy-to-understand guide to today's leading psychiatric theories and therapeutic modalities. Emphasizing evidence-based care, the book balances coverage of scientifically based treatment approaches with insights into effective communication skills, so you will be prepared to offer the best possible care when you enter practice. Written by nursing expert Chyllia D. Fosbre, this edition adds new Next Generation NCLEX^(R) (NGN) examination-style case studies to help you develop critical thinking skills and prepare for the NGN exam.

• Applying Critical Judgment questions introduce clinical situations in psychiatric nursing and encourage critical thinking.
• Neurobiology of the Brain feature includes illustrations depicting how a disorder affects brain function and how drugs help to mitigate the symptoms.
• Applying Evidence-Based Practice boxes in the clinical chapters pose a question, walk you through the process of gathering evidence-based data from a variety of sources, and present a plan of care based on the evidence.
• Vignettes describe real-world psychiatric patients and their disorders.
• Assessment Guidelines boxes summarize the steps of patient assessment for various disorders.
• Applying the Art boxes offer clinical scenarios demonstrating the interaction between a nurse and a patient, the nurse's perception of the interaction, and the mental health nursing concepts in play.
• Potential Nursing Diagnoses tables list possible nursing diagnoses for a particular disorder, based on ICNP terminology, along with the associated signs and symptoms.
• Nursing Interventions tables list interventions for a given disorder or clinical situation, along with rationales for each intervention.
• DSM-5 Criteria boxes identify the diagnostic criteria for most major disorders.
• Integrative Care boxes highlight the different types of therapy may be used to enhance treatment.
• Giddens Concept boxes at the beginning of each chapter tie concepts to the topics to be discussed.

• NEW! Next Generation NCLEX^(R) (NGN) examination-style case studies are included in the clinical disorders chapters to promote critical thinking and help to prepare you for the NGN exam.