Research guides: Open Education Resources: Health Sciences

Nursing

Nursing Pharmacology This 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.
Clinical Procedures for Safer Patient Care This open educational resource (OER) was developed to ensure best practice and quality care based on the latest evidence, and to address inconsistencies in how clinical health care skills are taught and practised in the clinical setting. 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 outcomes, 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. All checklists, tables and videos are listed and hyperlinked in the appendices.
Vital Sign Measurement Across the Lifespan – 2nd Canadian Edition The purpose of this textbook is to help learners develop best practices in vital sign measurement. Its intended audience is students in health-related post-secondary programs as well as healthcare providers. Using a multi-media and interactive approach, it will provide opportunities to read about, observe, practice, and test vital sign measurement. This 2nd Canadian Edition includes over 120 H5P activities.
Northern and Indigenous Health and Healthcare The provision of northern health care entails many unique challenges and circumstances that are rarely represented in mainstream health sciences education. This open access, online resource consists of 38 short chapters from a variety of experts, academics, and practitioners in northern and Indigenous health and health care from around the Circumpolar North on the following themes: health issues in northern and Indigenous communities; health systems and governance; the social determinants of health in northern and Indigenous communities; culture and health; and professional practice in rural/remote/isolated communities. The learning objectives for this open textbook include: understanding the unique healthcare needs and professional responsibilities that result from remoteness and population sparsity; identifying the social, environmental and cultural aspects of a community that inform and impact care needs; appreciating traditional and Indigenous medicines and approaches to healing as part of a holistic care system; and exploring the similarities and differences in northern health care across the circumpolar region.
Clinical Procedures for Safer Patient Care This open educational resource (OER) was developed to ensure best practice and quality care based on the latest evidence, and to address inconsistencies in how clinical health care skills are taught and practised in the clinical setting. 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 outcomes, 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. All checklists, tables and videos are listed and hyperlinked in the appendices.
Medicines by Design Medicines By Design aims to explain how scientists unravel the many different ways medicines work in the body and how this information guides the hunt for drugs of the future. Pharmacology is a broad discipline encompassing every aspect of the study of drugs, including their discovery and development and the testing of their action in the body. Much of the most promising pharmacological research going on at universities across the country is sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Working at the crossroads of chemistry, genetics, cell biology, physiology, and engineering, pharmacologists are fighting disease in the laboratory and at the bedside.
Nursing Care at the End of Life: What Every Clinician Should Know Nursing Care at the End of Life: What Every Clinician Should Know should be an essential component of basic educational preparation for the professional registered nurse student. Recent studies show that only one in four nurses feel confident in caring for dying patients and their families and less than 2% of overall content in nursing textbooks is related to end-of-life care, despite the tremendous growth in palliative and end-of-life care programs across the country. The purpose of this textbook is to provide an indepth look at death and dying in this country, including the vital role of the nurse in assisting patients and families along the journey towards the end of life. There is an emphasis throughout the book on the simple, yet understated value of effective interpersonal communication between the patient and clinician. The text provides a basic foundation of understanding death and dying, including a brief historical examination of some main conceptual models associated with how patients cope with impending loss. An overview of illness trajectories and models of care, such as hospice and palliative care are discussed. Lastly, the latest evidence-based approaches for pain and symptom management, ethical concerns, cultural considerations, care at the time of death, and grief/bereavement are examined. The goal of this text is to foster the necessary skills for nurses to provide compassionate care to individuals who are nearing the end of life and their families. Every chapter contains a “What You Should Know” section which highlights and reinforces foundational concepts.
Creative Clinical Teaching in the Health Professions 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.
Handbook of eHealth Evaluation: An Evidence-based Approach This handbook presents the science and practice of eHealth evaluation based on empirical evidence gathered over many years within the health informatics discipline. The handbook describes different approaches used to evaluate the planning, design, implementation, use and impact of eHealth systems in different health settings. It also provides a snapshot of the current state of knowledge on the consequences of opting for eHealth systems with respect to their effects and implications on provider performance and health outcomes.
Documentation in Nursing: 1st Canadian edition This open access textbook is intended to guide best practices of documentation in the nursing profession. This resource is designed for students in undergraduate nursing programs, and addresses principles of documentation, legislation associated with documentation, methods and systems of documentation, and key trends in the future of documentation. Incorporated into this resource is legislation and practice standards specific to the province of Ontario, Canada.
Leadership and Influencing Change in Nursing Leadership and Influencing Change in Nursing is designed for a single-semester introduction to the professional nurse’s leadership role as both a care provider and a formal leader. An assortment of authors with diverse nursing leadership roles across Saskatchewan and Canada have contributed to this textbook. These diverse voices are focused on providing student nurses with the foundational tools, techniques, and knowledge required to empower them to meet the leadership challenges found within the incessantly changing Canadian health care environment.
Supporting Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities & Mental Illness This multidisciplinary resource develops topics of interest to all those who care about and for individuals with co-occurring intellectual disabilities and mental illness. Each chapter presents current evidence informed practice knowledge. Each topic is also presented with audio enabled text boxes emphasizing 'Key Points for Caregivers.' For those who are interested in background knowledge, we provided the comprehensive literature base. And, for those interested mainly in 'what to do,' we provided text box summaries for reading and listening
Human Nutrition - 2020 Edition The book covers basic concepts in human nutrition, key information about essential nutrients, basic nutritional assessment, and nutrition across the lifespan.
The Scholarship of Writing in Nursing Education: 1st Canadian Edition This open access textbook is intended to guide best practices in the journey of scholarly writing in the context of the nursing profession. This resource is designed for students in undergraduate nursing programs and may also be useful for students in other health-related post-secondary programs, graduate students, and healthcare providers. The project is supported and funded by the Ryerson University Library OER Grant.
Contemporary Health Issues Student Learning Outcomes Assess health behavior choices, apply that information to everyday life for the improvement of individual, family, and community well-being. Identify preconceived ideas about knowledge, values, and behavior that affect health and compare with established research and accepted scientific evidence. This course was developed by Judy Baker, Ph.D., Dean of Foothill Global Access at Foothill College.
Vaccine Practice for Health Professionals: 1st Canadian Edition This open access textbook is intended to guide best practices in vaccine delivery in Canada. This resource is designed for students in post-secondary health profession programs, including nursing. It may also be useful for graduate students and healthcare providers. This textbook provides information related to clinical practice, including the administration of vaccine, and communication with clients.
Introduction to Communication in Nursing
Capacity to Connect: Supporting Students’ Mental Health and Wellness "Capacity to Connect: Supporting Students’ Mental Health and Wellness" includes a facilitator’s guide with handouts and a PowerPoint presentation. This adaptable training resource covers foundational mental health and wellness knowledge for post-secondary faculty and staff and ways to support students in distress. It can be used for two-hour online or in-person training or for self-study.
Applied Statistics in Healthcare Research: Theoretical concepts and computational methods using SAS applications and the Webulators The primary learning objective of this textbook is to introduce the reader to the fundamental statistical methods and basic analytical procedures associated with processing data in regard to healthcare research. It is intended that by working through the applications and practice problems, readers should be able to understand and apply some of the methods for developing, implementing and critically evaluating data within the various disciplines of health
Leadership and Influencing Change in Nursing Leadership and Influencing Change in Nursing is designed for a single-semester introduction to the professional nurse’s leadership role as both a care provider and a formal leader. An assortment of authors with diverse nursing leadership roles across Saskatchewan and Canada have contributed to this textbook. These diverse voices are focused on providing student nurses with the foundational tools, techniques, and knowledge required to empower them to meet the leadership challenges found within the incessantly changing Canadian health care environment. Additional resources available on https://www.uregina.ca/oer-publishing/index.html.
Interpreting Canada’s 2019 Food Guide and Food Labelling for Health Professionals This textbook provides the novice learner with a foundational understanding of Canada’s 2019 Food Guide and Food Labelling. It highlights important considerations for future health professionals seeking to adopt the new food guide into their practice, including strategies towards healthy eating. This open textbook underscores a relational inquiry approach to inform discussions with clients about nutrition and healthy eating.
Open Education Resources for Nursing The Open RN project is led by Chippewa Valley Technical College as part of the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) consortium. OER nursing textbooks and virtual simulations are collaboratively developed by faculty based on the WTCS State Nursing curriculum and the current NCLEX-RN Test Plan. Textbooks undergo national peer review by faculty, deans, industry members, and nursing students to ensure the content is accurate and relevant, written in clear language for pre-licensure nursing students, and based on current, evidence-based practices. All Open RN materials have CC-BY 4.0 Creative Commons licensing.
Open Nursing Titles Includes titles on everything from end of life care to interpreting Canada's 2019 food guide.
General Open Health Titles

Open Access Resources

Open RN Project Simulation Videos YouTube channel with simulation/virtual reality scenerios and instructional videos with a CC 4.0 license, all videos are being used by the Open RN project..
Virtual Simulation: Online H5P Branching Scenarios New scenarios are added to this Google document as they are created by the Open RN team. These scenarios are free and open to use, adapt or modify. They have been created with free H5P software.
Augmented Reality Nursing Skills Commons Simulations and case studies. Created by Chippewa Valley Technical College.
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Augmented Reality is an enhanced version of reality created with the use of technology. For the purposes of this project a media image, video, or sound is overlaid into the learning environment to provide a more authentic and immersive learning experience
Introduction to ARISE Project
Simulation Scenarios
Case Studies
Case Studies: End-of-life Care After Stroke: Videos and Illustrations This e-learning module aims to help healthcare professionals have sensitive and effective conversations about end of life care after stroke. Using different case study videos, its goal is to improve the care that stroke patients receive at the end of their life and the experiences of their families.
Health Case Studies Health Case Studies is composed of eight separate health case studies that align with the open textbooks Clinical Procedures for Safer Patient Care and Anatomy and Physiology: OpenStax. 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.
Serious Games
Technical Info & Troubleshooting (ARISE)
Virtual Human Anatomy Lab Manual
Human Anatomy Lab Manual
Virtual Lab and Science Resource Directory The BCcampus Open Education Virtual Lab and Science Resource Directory lists free science resources designed to support remote science education. This directory is updated as new resources are identified. Note that, while all resources in this directory are free, not all are open. Resources that carry Creative Commons or otherwise open licences are clearly labelled.
Supporting Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities & Mental Illness This multidisciplinary resource develops topics of interest to all those who care about and for individuals with co-occurring intellectual disabilities and mental illness. Each chapter presents current evidence informed practice knowledge. Each topic is also presented with audio enabled text boxes emphasizing 'Key Points for Caregivers.' For those who are interested in background knowledge, we provided the comprehensive literature base. And, for those interested mainly in 'what to do,' we provided text box summaries for reading and listening
Open RN Project videos This 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.
Regul8: A framework for optimising autonomic regulation in children The Regul8 framework represents an approach to providing fundamental children’s nursing care. The impetus for the work was to align emerging understandings and research outcomes with current children’s nursing practice. Concepts were developed through continuous exploration of emerging scientific fields and refined through a decade of teaching and learning alongside children’s nursing students, practitioners and educators from across Africa. The framework is designed to comprehensively address the major influences on regulatory function through an intentionally Afrocentric guide to children’s nursing care planning. This resource includes a poster and a document laying out the evidence supporting the framework.
Open Health Labs

Dental Assistant

Provisional Prosthodontic series - 2nd Edition The Provisional Prosthodontic Series - 2nd Edition is comprised of five resources: Provisional Prosthodontic Theory Manual, Provisional Prosthodontic Clinical Manual, a study guide, instructor's guide, and a manual of practice exercises and case studies. This course is available to programs accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada. These course materials are written for practising certified dental assistants. Registered and licensed dental hygienists are also eligible and welcome to take these courses. Certified dental assistants and hygienists who have successfully completed Provisional Prosthodontic Theory and Provisional Prosthodontic Clinical may apply for a Prosthodontic Module Designation from their regulatory body to allow them to provide these services under the authorization and supervision of a dentist.

Human Biology and Nutrition

Human Nutrition - 2020 Edition The book covers basic concepts in human nutrition, key information about essential nutrients, basic nutritional assessment, and nutrition across the lifespan.
Human Biology: Human Anatomy and Physiology This textbook is ideal for an introductory-level human biology course. It is aligned with the British Columbia Adult Basic Education learning outcomes for Provincial Level Biology, which is the equivalent of Grade 12 Anatomy and Physiology. This textbook begins with an introduction to sciences and the scientific method, and then addresses the human body in increasing scale: from biological molecules, to cells and tissues, to organs and all eleven organ systems, all with an overarching focus on health. The text employs clear writing, case studies for each chapter, interactive self-marking study activities, highlights of Indigenous knowledge and examples, a pop-up glossary, and links to resources for extending learning.
Anatomy and Physiology Anatomy and Physiology is a dynamic textbook for the two-semester human anatomy and physiology course for life science and allied health majors. The book is organized by body system and covers standard scope and sequence requirements. Its lucid text, strategically constructed art, career features, and links to external learning tools address the critical teaching and learning challenges in the course. The web-based version of Anatomy and Physiology also features links to surgical videos, histology, and interactive diagrams.
UGA Anatomy and Physiology 1 Lab Manual, 3rd Edition This lab manual was created for Anatomy and Physiology I at the University of Georgia under a Textbook Transformation Grant and revised through a Scaling Up OER Pilot Grant. Contains a huge number of labs.
UGA Anatomy and Physiology 2 Lab Manual, 3rd Edition This lab manual was created for Anatomy and Physiology II at the University of Georgia under a Textbook Transformation Grant and revised through a Scaling Up OER Pilot Grant. Covers a large number of lab topics.
UGA Laboratory Manual for Functional Human Anatomy This lab manual was created for Functional Human Anatomy at the University of Georgia under a Textbook Transformation Grant and revised through a Scaling Up OER Pilot Grant. Covers: Introduction to Anatomical Terminology Back: Skeletal Framework Back Muscles Skeletal Framework of the Upper Limb Muscles of the Upper Limb Skeletal Framework of the Lower Limb Skeletal Framework of the Thorax Body Cavities and Mesenteries
Neural Control of Movement
Human Anatomy Lab Manual
Virtual Human Anatomy Lab Manual
Body Physics 2.0 Body Physics sticks to the basic functioning of the human body, from motion to metabolism, as a common theme through which fundamental physics topics are introduced. Related practice, reinforcement and Lab activities are included. See the front matter for more details. Additional supplementary material, activities, and information can be found at: https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/bpsupmat/. Order a print copy: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/body-physics-motion-to-metabolism/26081318
Wellness Provides a study of fitness and wellness and their relationship to a healthy lifestyle. Defines fitness and wellness, evaluates the student's level of fitness and wellness, and motivates the student to incorporate physical fitness and wellness into daily living.
Human Anatomy DigiGUIDE (LQB187) QUT Anatomy and Physiology Team
Contemporary Health Issues Student Learning Outcomes Assess health behavior choices, apply that information to everyday life for the improvement of individual, family, and community well-being. Identify preconceived ideas about knowledge, values, and behavior that affect health and compare with established research and accepted scientific evidence. This course was developed by Judy Baker, Ph.D., Dean of Foothill Global Access at Foothill College.
Capacity to Connect: Supporting Students’ Mental Health and Wellness "Capacity to Connect: Supporting Students’ Mental Health and Wellness" includes a facilitator’s guide with handouts and a PowerPoint presentation. This adaptable training resource covers foundational mental health and wellness knowledge for post-secondary faculty and staff and ways to support students in distress. It can be used for two-hour online or in-person training or for self-study.