This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. This report highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. The 2008 edition focuses on employment, poverty, population change, and demographic characteristics of non-metro areas. Charts and tables.

America's rural areas have always held a disproportionate share of the nation's poorest populations. Rural Poverty in the United States examines why. What is it about the geography, demography, and history of rural communities that keeps them poor? In a comprehensive analysis that extends from the Civil War to the present, Rural Poverty in the United States looks at access to human and social capital; food security; healthcare and the environment; homelessness; gender roles and relations; racial inequalities; and immigration trends to isolate the underlying causes of persistent rural poverty. Contributors to this volume incorporate approaches from multiple disciplines, including sociology, economics, demography, race and gender studies, public health, education, criminal justice, social welfare, and other social science fields. They take a hard look at current and past programs to alleviate rural poverty and use their failures to suggest alternatives that could improve the well-being of rural Americans for years to come. These essays work hard to define rural poverty's specific metrics and markers, a critical step for building better policy and practice. Considering gender, race, and immigration, the book appreciates the overlooked structural and institutional dimensions of ongoing rural poverty and its larger social consequences.

Conceptual Foundations: The Bridge to Professional Nursing Practice, 5th Edition provides the background you need to succeed in your role as a professional nurse. It discusses the concepts that define the nursing profession, covering everything from the history of nursing to current challenges in the profession. Expert educators Joan L. Creasia, PhD, RN, and Elizabeth E. Friberg, MSN, RN, bring together the best minds of nursing for an in-depth look at the profession's major theories, practices, and principles. Vignettes, each written by a practicing nurse, open each chapter with a specific scenario and application of professional behaviors. Critical Thinking Exercises at the end of each chapter help you to use and apply what you've learned. Objectives at the beginning of each chapter provide a framework for study. Key points at the end of each chapter help you focus on important information. New Patient Safety chapter prepares you for expanded nursing responsibility for patient safety, adherence to regulatory requirements of the Joint Commission, and the implementation of best practices to create health care that is safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered. New Genetics and Genomics in Professional Nursing chapter defines the nurse's role in family history assessment and genetic testing, explains how genetic testing is used in clinical practice, and identifies ethical issues related to this emerging practice.

The world's demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded, and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In many poor countries, agriculture accounts for at least 40 percent of GDP and 80 percent of employment. At the same time, about 70 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. 'World Development Report 2008' seeks to assess where, when, and how agriculture can be an effective instrument for economic development, especially development that favors the poor. It examines several broad questions: How has agriculture changed in developing countries in the past 20 years? What are the important new challenges and opportunities for agriculture? Which new sources of agricultural growth can be captured cost effectively in particular in poor countries with large agricultural sectors as in Africa? How can agricultural growth be made more effective for poverty reduction? How can governments facilitate the transition of large populations out of agriculture, without simply transferring the burden of rural poverty to urban areas? How can the natural resource endowment for agriculture be protected? How can agriculture's negative environmental effects be contained? This year's report marks the 30th year the World Bank has been publishing the 'World Development Report'.