A major portion of the collection of 20 readings authored by practicing professionals consists of field observations presented both as raw data (field notes) and as analyzed and organized data. About the work of nurses in a variety of settings, a recurrent theme is that work behavior is greatly influenced by organizational and structural elements in each place of work, as well as by social and cultural features in the society at large. Part 1, Inside the Hospital, includes the following sections: the head nurse, two perennial problems (death, pain), some special wards (managerial agent versus therapist role, mental illness and the tuberculosis patient, intensive care, the premature nursery, and the pediatric ward), the emergency room (health care system, a student's perceptions, and value transmission to student), and the guest role of nurse educators in health agency settings. Part 2, Outside the Hospital, covers: the development of a community clinic by two nurses, the nurse as leader in the Lamaze experience, surveillance in long-term illness, aspects of public health work, dying at home, the work of the visiting nurse, and social isolation and strategies for managing life in chronic illness. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions. (Author/MS)