Introduction

This is the second edition of the Nursing Fundamentals OER nursing textbook with CC-BY 4.0 licensing. It has been developed for entry-level nursing students based on the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) statewide nursing curriculum for the Nursing Fundamentals course (543-101), the 2023 NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN Test Plans,^[1] and the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act.^[2] Here is a summary of updates made to the second edition.

This book introduces the scope of nursing practice, various communication techniques, and caring for diverse clients. The nursing process is used as a framework for providing nursing care for the following concepts: safety, oxygenation, comfort, spiritual well-being, grief and loss, sleep and rest, mobility, nutrition, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, and elimination. Nursing care for clients with integumentary disorders and cognitive or sensory impairments is also discussed. Learning activities have been incorporated into each chapter, including case studies and NCLEX Next Generation-style questions to encourage students to develop clinical judgment while applying content to client-care situations.

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.

The following video provides a quick overview of how to navigate the online version.

This book is part of the Open RN^© Nursing OER textbook series, originally funded by a $2.5 million Open Textbook Pilot grant from the Department of Education with sustainability funded by WisTech Open. This book was written by subject matter experts and is based on reliable scholarly research and evidence. It has been carefully peer reviewed to ensure its accuracy and quality. The content was developed without relying on large language models or AI tools, ensuring that the information is grounded in expert analysis and trusted sources. Read about other OER textbooks available on the Open RN and the WisTech Open websites.