Professional Nursing Concepts is an 8 week hybrid course with 6 of the 8 weeks offered in person (the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, & 8th week) with the other 2 weeks asynchronous on Canvas. During this course we are going to review and expand upon topics that you have learned in your previous nursing courses such as prioritization, delegation, collaboration, etc. In addition we will begin to prepare you for the next steps starting your career as a new graduate nurse, where we will be learning the culture and expectations of the nursing profession, completing resumes, and NCLEX tips and application. 

As the healthcare landscape evolves, so too does the need for nurses to stay current with advancements, best practices, and foundational concepts. Whether you’re re-entering the nursing field after a hiatus or seeking to enhance your existing skills, this book is designed to be your comprehensive guide to refreshing and expanding your nursing expertise.

In the fast-paced world of healthcare, it’s crucial to maintain and build upon your clinical competencies. This refresher text aims to bridge the gap between past experience and present-day practices, ensuring that you are well-prepared to deliver exceptional patient care. The content is carefully curated to address key areas of nursing practice, including updated clinical guidelines, emerging technologies, and evidence-based practices.

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.

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.