This key textbook equips all nurses with the knowledge and skills required to care for the deteriorating patient in the clinical environment. The book emphasises the importance of systematic assessment, interpretation of clinical signs of deterioration, and the need to escalate the patient in a timely manner. Using a unique system-based approach, each chapter contains structured learning outcomes and concludes with a competence-based skills assessment to perfect the reader's practice skills. These skills are recommended as essential for every nurse in an acute area and key to successful practice. Restructured for ease of use, this new edition has been fully updated to match current guidelines, with new chapters on pain management and the ethics and ceilings of treatment. Written by senior nurses, this key textbook uses real life case studies to link knowledge to practice and is essential reading for all nurses working in acute care settings and undertaking study in the field.