OER and ZTC by Subject (A-Z)

This book introduces the entry-level nursing student to the scope of nursing practice, various communication techniques, and caring for diverse patients. The nursing process is used as a framework for providing patient care based on the following nursing concepts: safety, oxygenation, comfort, spiritual well-being, grief and loss, sleep and rest, mobility, nutrition, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, and elimination. Care for patients with integumentary disorders and cognitive or sensory impairments is also discussed. Learning activities have been incorporated into each chapter to encourage students to use critical thinking while applying content to patient care situations.

This open access Nursing Pharmacology textbook is designed for entry-level undergraduate nursing students. It explains basic concepts of pharmacology and describes common medication classes. This book is not intended to be used as a drug reference book, but direct links are provided to DailyMed, which provides trustworthy information about marketed drugs in the United States.

Transitions to Professional Nursing Practice provides a pivotal learning experience for students transitioning from an associate degree education to a baccalaureate degree. Content includes a broad overview of the nursing profession, the role of accrediting and professional organizations with a strong focus on the American Nurses Association’s foundational documents. The competencies of the Standards of Professional Practice and the Code of Ethics are weaved throughout the text.
Topics covered in this text include professional nursing practice, baccalaureate education, healthcare in the 21st century, autonomy and accountability, nursing philosophy, professional development, communication, interprofessional collaboration, critical thinking, introduction to evidence-based practice, and nursing leadership and theory.

This open access Nursing Skills textbook includes physical assessments routinely performed by entry-level registered nurses and basic nursing skills performed by licensed practical nurses. It is based on the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) statewide nursing curriculum for the Nursing Skills course (543-102), the 2019 NCLEX-RN Test Plan, the 2020 NCLEX-PN Test Plan, and the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act. Learning activities are included to encourage the student to engage in critical thinking and apply the nursing process while analyzing assessment findings.

This textbook is an open educational resource with CC-BY licensing developed specifically for prelicensure nursing students. The e-book and downloadable versions are free. Affordable print versions are published in collaboration with XanEdu and available on Amazon and in college bookstores.
Content is based on the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) statewide nursing curriculum for the Nursing Mental Health and Community Concepts course (543-110), the NCLEX-RN Test Plan, 1 and the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Education Council’s Crosswalk Toolkit: Defining and Using Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Skills in Undergraduate Nursing Education. 2 Mental health and community health concepts are discussed while emphasizing stress management techniques, healthy coping strategies, referrals to community resources, and other preventative interventions. Nursing care for individuals with specific mental health and substance use disorders is examined, and the nurse’s role in community health needs assessments and caring for vulnerable populations is introduced.

Health Case Studies is composed of eight separate health case studies. Each case study includes the patient narrative or story that models the best practice (at the time of publishing) in healthcare settings. Associated with each case is a set of specific learning objectives to support learning and facilitate educational strategies and evaluation.
The case studies can be used online in a learning management system, in a classroom discussion, in a printed course pack or as part of a textbook created by the instructor. This flexibility is intentional and allows the educator to choose how best to convey the concepts presented in each case to the learner.
Because these case studies were primarily developed for an electronic healthcare system, they are based predominantly in an acute healthcare setting. Educators can augment each case study to include primary healthcare settings, outpatient clinics, assisted living environments, and other contexts as relevant.

The checklist approach, used in this textbook, aims to provide standardized processes for clinical skills and to help nursing schools and clinical practice partners keep procedural practice current. Each skill/procedure is covered in a chapter that has learning objectives, a brief overview of the relevant theory, checklists of steps for procedures with the rationale behind each step of the process, and a summary of key takeaways. Key terms are set in bold throughout the book and laid out again in a Glossary in the appendix. All 88 checklists are also summarized, and hyperlinked to the original checklist, in the appendix.

This peer reviewed e-book is a must-read for nurses and other health professionals who strive to teach with creativity and excellence in clinical settings. Each chapter presents current evidence informed educational practice knowledge. Each topic is also presented with text boxes describing ‘Creative Strategies' that clinical teachers from across Canada have successfully implemented. For those who are interested in background knowledge, the authors provided a comprehensive literature base. And, for those interested mainly in 'what to do,' the text box summaries offer step-by-step directions for creative, challenging activities that both new and experienced instructors can begin using immediately.

The structure of the human body is usually considered in courses in gross anatomy. These courses typically consist of lectures by the faculty, readings in assigned textbooks and the study of photographs and illustrations in human anatomy atlases. However, as student’s progress through the curriculum and move into the more clinical or practice oriented phases, many discover that the anatomical knowledge they actually need is somewhat different from the kind they possess. What many encounter is difficulty in applying their knowledge to a clinical setting.
Applied Human Anatomy was created to better integrate material that is more often than not treated separately in contemporary health care curricula. It is hoped that through this integration students will develop a deeper and more lasting knowledge and understanding of human anatomy as they are likely to need it in the evaluation and management of patients.

Learn about medical tests, including what the tests are used for, why a doctor may order a test, how a test will feel, and what the results may mean. Medical tests can help detect a condition, determine a diagnosis, plan treatment, check to see if treatment is working, or monitor the condition over time. A doctor may order these tests as part of a routine checkup, to check for certain diseases and disorders, or to monitor your health. MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world's largest medical library, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world's largest medical library, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This book is a collaborative effort among three faculty members from the Darton College of Health Professions, Nursing Department, at Albany State University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), and part of the UniversitySystem of Georgia. The book idea originated from a grant-funded program to create open education resources (OER) for students learning in UniversitySystem of Georgia’s eMajor courses. The cost of education in the United States is remarkably expensive, and the added burden of purchasing textbooks for each course can be prohibitive. The opportunity to create free educational materials has been a rewarding experience. A free pdf form of this text is available for download. The authors of this book are registered nurses who have each worked 25 or more years in various roles and specialties within our healthcare system. There have been many changes throughout the years. The authors’ experience and knowledge are from a nursing perspective not found in other texts of similar content.The healthcare system has advanced tremendously since the very beginning of our formalized system. The most significant growth has been in technology use to support, diagnose, increase patient safety, and document patient outcomes.However, more can be done to ensure a system that meets all our citizens’ healthcare needs.