The chapters have been organized into five broad sections that represent – as far as possible – the needs of a patient along their care pathway. The first section, ‘Managing the patient journey’, presents the generic information that a nurse needs for every patient who enters the acute care environment. The second section, ‘Supporting patients with human functioning’, relates to the support a patient may require with normal human functions such as elimination, nutrition and respiration, and includes procedures relevant to those areas. The third section, ‘Supporting patients through the diagnostic process’, relates to all aspects of supporting a patient through the diagnostic process, from simple procedures such as taking a temperature to preparing a patient for complex procedures such as a liver biopsy. The fourth section, ‘Supporting patients through treatment’, includes procedures related to specific types of treatment or therapies a patient is receiving. An additional final section and chapter has been added focusing on the wellbeing and self‐care of the nurse. This has been included for two reasons. Firstly, the new NMC Standards of Proficiency for Registered Nurses state that self‐care is a professional responsibility: ‘in order to respond to the impact and demands of professional nursing practice, [nurses] must be emotionally intelligent and resilient individuals, who are able to manage their own personal health and wellbeing, and know when and how to access support’ (NMC [28], p.3). Secondly, there is a common tendency for nurses and other care workers to become ‘invisible patients’ because their own needs are often ignored or pushed to the bottom of the list (Sheridan [40]). The health and wellbeing of those who care for patients is being recognized as one of the most important aspects of enabling them to care safely (Sign Up to Safety [41]). The final chapter is included to provide accessible strategies that any nurse or care worker can put into practice.