An illustration of Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory, as featured in section 11.5 of Nursing Management and Professional Concepts.

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 Advanced Skills course (543-112) and the NCLEX-RN Test Plan.[1] Content includes advanced skills for registered nurses, such as intravenous infusion, blood product administration, management of central lines and chest tube systems, basic electrocardiogram interpretation, and nasogastric/feeding tube insertion, and builds on basic nursing skills discussed in the Open RN Nursing Skills OER textbook.

This textbook is an open educational resource (OER) with CC-BY licensing aligned with Wisconsin Technical College System’s Nursing Assistant program (30-543-300). The Nursing Assistant program prepares students for employment as nursing assistants as well as for entry to other health-related programs. It is recognized by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services as a nurse aide training program. Upon successful completion of a Nursing Assistant program, the student is eligible to take the Wisconsin Nursing Assistant competency evaluation for inclusion on the Wisconsin Nurse Aide Registry and employment in nursing homes, hospitals, home health agencies, hospices, community based residential facilities, assisted living centers, and homes for the developmentally disabled.

Chippewa Valley Technical College created this OER with funding from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) by using Open RN workflows, remixing Open RN OER textbooks, and creating new content. The Open RN project has published five OER nursing textbooks that have been widely adopted across the United States and is funded by a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Education. More information about the Open RN project can be found at cvtc.edu/OpenRN.

This online book is free and can also be downloaded in multiple formats for offline use. The online version is required to complete interactive learning activities included in each chapter.

This Nursing Fundamentals textbook is an open educational resource with CC-BY licensing developed for entry-level nursing students. Content is based on the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) statewide nursing curriculum for the Nursing Fundamentals course (543-101), the 2019 NCLEX-RN Test Plan, the 2020 NCLEX-PN Test Plan, and the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act.

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.

The Open Resources for Nursing (Open RN) project is supported by a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Education. This book is available for free online and can also be downloaded in multiple formats for offline use. The online version is required for interaction with adaptive learning activities included in each chapter. Affordable print versions may also be purchased from XanEdu in college bookstores and on Amazon.

This is an open educational resource with CC-BY licensing. It has been developed specifically for prelicensure nursing students preparing to graduate and take the NCLEX-RN to obtain their nursing license. Content is based on the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) statewide nursing curriculum for the Nursing Management and Professional Concepts course (543-114), the 2019 NCLEX-RN Test Plan, and the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act.

This book introduces concepts related to nursing leadership and management, prioritization strategies, delegation and supervision, legal implications of nursing practice, ethical nursing practice, collaboration within the interprofessional team, health care economics, quality and evidence-based practice, advocacy, preparation for the RN role, and the avoidance of burnout with self-care. Several online, interactive learning activities are included in each chapter that encourage application of content to patient-care situations. Additionally, the Appendix includes a “suite of patients” with suggested prompts for classroom discussion to assist students in applying concepts from the book to real patient-care situations.

The e-book is free and can be viewed online or downloaded as a PDF or other formats for offline use. Affordable print versions are also published in collaboration with XanEdu and are available on Amazon and in college bookstores.

This is the second edition of the Open RN Nursing Pharmacology OER textbook. This free online textbook is an open educational resource with CC-BY 4.0 licensing that has been developed for prelicensure nursing students. Affordable print versions are published in collaboration with XanEdu and are available on Amazon or can be ordered by college bookstores. A free printable PDF version is also available for download on the Open RN website.

This edition has been updated according to the 2023 NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN Test Plans, and additional NCLEX Next Generation-style learning activities have been added to each chapter. It is aligned with the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) statewide nursing curriculum for the Nursing Pharmacology course (543-103). View a list of updates in the second edition here.

This book introduces the principles of pharmacology and discusses classes of medications and their effects on the body. Emphasis is on the use of the nursing process to safely administer medications. This book is not intended to be used as a drug reference book. However, links are provided for prototype medications for each medication class to DailyMed, a trustworthy U.S. National Library of Medicine website, that contains detailed information about drugs marketed in the United States.

The Open RN project is supported by a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Education and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government. More information about the Open RN project can be found at cvtc.edu/OpenRN.

The first edition of Open RN Nursing Pharmacology won an Award for Excellence from OE Global in 2020. For more information about the award, visit the 2020 OE Awards for Excellence site.

This book is available for download in multiple formats, but the online version is required for interaction with the adaptive learning activities included in each chapter.

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.

This textbook is aligned with the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) statewide nursing curriculum for the Nursing Pharmacology course (543-103). The project is supported by a $2.5 million Open Resources for Nursing (Open RN) grant from the Department of Education and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This book is available for download in multiple formats, but the online version is required for interaction with the adaptive learning activities included in each chapter.

This is the second edition of the Open RN Nursing Skills OER textbook. This free online textbook is an open educational resource with CC-BY 4.0 licensing that has been developed for prelicensure nursing students. It is designed for use in both practical/vocational nursing programs, as well as for first-year courses in programs preparing students to become registered nurses. An additional Open RN OER textbook, “Nursing Advanced Skills,” includes advanced skills such as intravenous infusion, blood product administration, management of central lines and chest tube systems, basic electrocardiogram interpretation, and nasogastric/feeding tube insertion. The Open RN project is supported by a $2.5 million Open Resources for Nursing (Open RN) grant from the Department of Education and is licensed under CC-BY 4.0 creative commons license. More information about the Open RN project can be found at cvtc.edu/OpenRN.

The second edition has been updated according to the 2023 NCLEX-PN and NCLEX-RN Test Plans, and additional NCLEX Next Generation-style learning activities have been added to each chapter. It is aligned with the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) statewide nursing curriculum for the Nursing Skills course (543-102). View a list of updates made to the second edition based on the 2023 NCLEX Test Plans and suggestions received from WTCS nursing faculty.

This Open RN Nursing Skills OER textbook focuses on the development of evidence-based clinical skills and physical assessment across the life span routinely performed by entry-level nurses.[1],[2] Techniques related to obtaining a health history and basic physical assessment using a body systems approach are described and include sample skills checklists and instructor demonstration videos. Mathematical calculations and conversions related to clinical skills are also included. The first edition of Open RN Nursing Skills received an OE Award for Excellence from OE Global. For more information, visit the 2020 OE Awards for Excellence site.

Award image for Open Textbook Award for Best OER 2021.
Several free, online, interactive learning activities are included in each chapter to encourage students to apply the nursing process while analyzing assessment findings and performing nursing skills. Additionally, in this second edition, NCLEX Next-Generation style questions are included in each chapter, with formative feedback immediately provided, to encourage the development of clinical judgment based on the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model.

This online book can be downloaded as a PDF or other formats for offline use. The online version is required for interaction with the learning activities included in each chapter.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students examine the nutritional content of different foods and learn about the health benefits and risks associated with the food choices they make.

This YouTube channel contains OER media with a CC 4.0 license being used by the Open RN project. The Open RN project is funded by a $2.5 million dollar grant from the Department of Education to create 5 OER Nursing Textbooks with 25 associated Virtual Reality scenarios.

The PBS Wisconsin Education team creates and curates great educational resources, while connecting with Wisconsin’s most valuable resource – teachers. Our network of resource developers, teaching and learning advisers includes partners like PBS, but more importantly, it includes innovative educators and organizations throughout Wisconsin – a network that grows stronger with every project and idea.

Explore our high-quality, cost-free PK-12 resources at pbswisconsineducation.org.

An image showing facets of PICOT. Those facets include P: Population/Problem: Who are the patients that will be studied (e.g., age, race, gender, disease, or health status, etc.) and what problem is being addressed (e.g., mortality, morbidity, compliance, satisfaction, etc.)?

I: Intervention: What is the specific intervention to be implemented with the research population (e.g., therapy, education, medication, etc.)?

C: Comparison: What is the alternative intervention that will be used to compare to the treatment intervention (e.g., placebo, no intervention, different medication, etc.)?

O: Outcome: What will be measured and how will it be measured and with what identified goal (e.g., fewer symptoms, increased satisfaction, reduced mortality, etc.)?

T: Time Frame: How long will the interventions be implemented and data collected for this research?

Featured in section 9.4 of the Nursing Management and Professional Concepts textbook.

An illustration of the Pay for Performance model, as featured in section 8.4 of the Nursing Management and Professional Concepts textbook.

What Works for Health is a resource from the Population Health Institute at UW-Madison and provides communities with information to help select and implement evidence-informed policies, programs, and system changes that will improve the variety of factors that affect health. The research underlying this site is based on a model of population health that emphasizes the many factors that can make communities healthier places to live, learn, work, and play.

Photo showing an image comparing the legs of a portable full-body mechanical lift in a closed and open position.

Photo showing a simulated patient putting a sock on the foot using a sock aid.