Care and caring have been and continue to be the cornerstone of nursing delivery of services. The scientific advances of the past decade are changing the understanding of the human brain, mental illness, and biochemical treatments of mental disorders. Psychiatric nurses continuously must integrate the neurosciences, particularly psychopharmacology, into nursing practice in order to ensure safe and effective care of people with mental illness and the advancement of the specialty. Psychiatric nurses are among the primary health care professionals working on a daily basis with the long-term management of psychiatric patients on the continuum of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, maintenance, and rehabilitation. Given the present array of treatment options, this nursing management includes considerable attention to concurrent medical problems and complex interactions between behavioral, emotional, physiological, and psychopharmacologic events. Psychiatric mental health nurses are unique in that their training and experience enable them to assess the biological as well as psychosocial needs of patients. Nursing interventions offer patients and families high quality and cost effective care. Psychiatric mental health nurses worldwide will continue to refine and demonstrate their evolving role in the mental health field. (AU)