This guide is designed as a starting point for faculty to locate open educational resources for use in VCU health sciences courses. Faculty are invited to explore these resources as a way to gain familiarity with OER and to identify potential materials for use in their courses. Just as they evaluate traditional textbooks, faculty are encouraged to evaluate these resources to determine whether they might be a good fit for their courses.
Bowker, D. M., & Kerkove, K. (2023). Social Determinants of Health in Nursing Education: Integrating Into Curriculum and Practice. https://www.iastatedigitalpress.com/plugins/books/147/.
This workbook was established with nurse educators and nursing students in mind to provide knowledge, guidance, and support for integrating social determinants of health (SDOH) across the nursing education spectrum. Contents from this workbook are applicable to pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing programs, RN-to-BSN programs, and graduate education. The book includes a general information section, pedagogical tools and discussion, case studies, and a facilitator guide (for accompanying the case studies).
Chippewa Valley Technical College. (2023). Nursing Skills. https://wtcs.pressbooks.pub/nursingskills/
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.
Bush, J. & Van Der Like, J. (2023). Mental Health is a Verb: A Pocket Guide to Mental Health for Nursing Students. https://pressbooks.uwf.edu/uwfmentalhealthnursing/
MENTAL HEALTH IS A VERB is an Open Education Resource written by Jake Bush, Ph.D., RN, CNE and Jill Van Der Like, DNP, MSN, RNC through University of West Florida which addresses mental health nursing care. The book reviews the foundations of mental health, psychopharmacology, and the most common mental health diagnoses.
Langham, J. (2023). A Guide to Numeracy in Nursing. https://collection.bccampus.ca/textbooks/a-guide-to-numeracy-in-nursing-bccampus-409/
A Guide to Numeracy in Nursing is a workbook for learning how to use and understand numbers in a nursing context. Chapters include subjects of basic math skills, unit conversions, medication math, interpreting lab values, and introductory statistics. Within each chapter, there is a main lesson followed by sample exercises and sets of practice questions.
Wisconsin Technical College System & Open RN. (n.d.). Open RN Virtual Reality Scenario Plans. https://sites.google.com/cvtc.edu/openrn-virtual-reality-sims/home
The Open RN project has developed 25 virtual scenarios compatible with Acadicus VR software. Media contains nurse handoff reports, patient interaction videos, family member videos, and interprofessional team communication. The most recently developed Open RN virtual simulations contain NCLEX Next Generation-style questions and/or media created by multiple generative artificial intelligence platforms and vetted by subject matter experts.
D'Ilio, A., & Egert, A. (2023). Nursing Virtual Case Studies. https://opentextbc.ca/nursingcasestudies/
These learner paced, interactive virtual branching case studies aim to help learners develop their noticing and clinical judgment skills. Each case study is designed to work with a specific level of learner (novice to advanced) and uses a variety of resources to help learners prepare for the experience and reflect on their actions. Concepts of patient-centered care, communication, safety and health and illness are used to demonstrate how care is provided in a variety of health care settings across the lifespan (community and acute care).
Hughes, M., Stefopulos, C., & Doyle, S. (2021). Interprofessional Virtual Gaming Simulation: Breaking the Chain of Transmission. OER Commons. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/interprofessionalvgs/
The interprofessional virtual gaming simulation (VGS) on breaking the chain of infection is based on a scenario with a team of interprofessional healthcare providers addressing an infection control situation.
If these resources aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, you can try searching in some of the repositories and aggregators listed on this guide’s homepage.
You can also reach out to your program’s liaison librarian or to the Open Educational Resources Librarian. Your librarians can help you identify resources or discuss the possibility of customizing or creating resources to better fit your needs.
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