Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Veterinary Epidemiology: Principles and Methods
Wayne Martin; Alan Meek; Preben Willebtrg · Virginia Tech Libraries · 1987
The purpose of this textbook is to provide an introductory, yet comprehensive, source of information on epidemiology for veterinary students, researchers, and practitioners. There has not been a textbook that presents analytic epidemiology as a science, basic to veterinary medicine's efforts in health management (herd health) as well as in clinical medicine.
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Field Trials of Health Interventions: A Toolbox
Peter Smith; Richard Morrow; David Ross · Oxford University Press · 2015
Before new interventions can be used in disease control programmes, it is essential that they are carefully evaluated in “field trials”, which may be complex and expensive undertakings. Descriptions of the detailed procedures and methods used in trials that have been conducted in the past have generally not been published. As a consequence, those planning such trials have few guidelines available and little access to previously accumulated knowledge. In this book the practical issues of trial design and conduct are discussed fully and in sufficient detail for the text to be used as a “toolbox” by field investigators. The toolbox has now been extensively tested through use of the first two editions and this third edition is a comprehensive revision, incorporating the many developments that have taken place with respect to trials since 1996 and involving more than 30 contributors. Most of the chapters have been extensively revised and 7 new chapters have been added.
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Clinical Procedures for Safer Patient Care
Glynda Doyle; Jodie McCutcheon · BCcampus · 2015
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 objectives, 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. Key terms are set in bold throughout the book and laid out again in a Glossary in the appendix. All 88 checklists are also summarized, and hyperlinked to the original checklist, in the appendix.
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Creative Clinical Teaching In The Health Professions
Sherri Melrose; Caroline Park; Beth Perry · Athabasca University Press · 2015
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.
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Nursing Care at the End of Life: What Every Clinician Should Know
Susan Lowey · Open SUNY · 2015
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.
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Mathematics for Biomedical Physics
Jogindra Wadehra · Wayne State University Library System · 2022
Mathematics for Biomedical Physics is an open access peer-reviewed textbook geared to introduce several mathematical topics at the rudimentary level so that students can appreciate the applications of mathematics to the interdisciplinary field of biomedical physics. Most of the topics are presented in their simplest but rigorous form so that students can easily understand the advanced form of these topics when the need arises. Several end-of-chapter problems and chapter examples relate the applications of mathematics to biomedical physics. After mastering the topics of this book, students would be ready to embark on quantitative thinking in various topics of biology and medicine
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Integral Calculus with Applications to Life Sciences
Paul Tsopméné · University of British Columbia Library · 2025
Integral Calculus with Applications to Life Sciences is an open educational resource (OER) that covers an unusually broad range of topics—including integration, infinite series, differential equations, linear algebra, probability, and statistics—rarely found in a single textbook. Each section begins with clear learning outcomes and a motivational paragraph, often tied to applications in the life sciences, helping students see the immediate relevance of what they learn. Examples are worked out in full detail. Every time a calculus or algebraic rule is applied, it is explicitly stated at the point of use. Rather than isolating algebra review in a preliminary chapter, this text integrates algebra throughout, allowing students to reinforce foundational skills while learning new material. This approach is especially supportive for students who may struggle with algebra. Practice problems with complete solutions follow each example, and most sections end with an application to biology, medicine, or related fields. The exercise sections include not only standard questions but also critical thinking problems such as finding errors in worked solutions, constructing counterexamples, and solving real-world problems. The text includes final answers for all exercises at the back. Hyperlinks allow students to jump seamlessly between exercises and final answers. By combining clarity, rigor, accessibility, and real-world relevance, one of the main goals of this OER is to help students not only to succeed in calculus but also to appreciate its power in understanding the living world.
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Legal Fundamentals of Healthcare Law
Tiffany Jackman · University of West Florida Pressbooks · 2024
Healthcare, a field dedicated to the well-being of individuals and communities, operates within an intricate web of legal principles. Understanding these laws is not simply a professional necessity for doctors, nurses, administrators, and researchers; it’s also an ethical imperative for anyone who interacts with the healthcare system. This book is your compass, guiding you through the labyrinth of legal fundamentals that shape the landscape of healthcare.
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Para vivir con salud
Kathryn McKnight; Jill Kuhnheim · Kathryn Joy McKnight and Jill Kuhnheim · 2022
We are asking anyone who adopts this webbook or uses portions of it in their teaching to please let us know at this link (click here). Para vivir con salud: Leyendo la salud y la literatura is the first textbook to introduce literary and textual analysis of Hispanic literature through the lens of health, illness, and medicine. The book meets the needs of the fast-growing numbers of Spanish majors and minors who are preparing themselves for careers in healthcare, in which they will engage Hispanic communities. These students seek advanced-level study of Hispanic culture and language that prepares them to communicate about health-related issues. While a growing number of literature departments teach Spanish courses with a health focus and most require their majors and minors to take an introductory course in literary or textual analysis, the crucial connection between the study of literature and professionalization in healthcare is generally not being made for or by these students. The movements of Narrative Medicine and Health Humanities have shown persuasively that healthcare providers benefit from a humanistic preparation that promotes empathy across difference; builds an understanding of how culture, language, and history shape our knowledge of health, illness, and medicine; and trains students in narrative competence to better understand and collaborate with patients and colleagues. Para vivir con salud is designed especially for the often-required Introduction to Hispanic Literature or Introduction to Textual Analysis course in most college Spanish programs, allowing individual sections to be transformed into a learning experience that prepares health professionals and brings them into greater engagement in literary and cultural studies in the Spanish major or minor. Para vivir con salud includes classics of Hispanic narrative, drama, and poetry—pieces by authors such as Cervantes, Garcilaso, Sor Juana, Martí, Neruda, Castellanos, Pizarnik, and Morejón, less-wel
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Tout un Monde: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Intermediate French
Alicia Soueid · Mavs Open Press · 2019
This book is intended for use with intermediate level college French classes. Its multidisciplinary approach introduces students to topics and vocabulary associated with fields such as medicine, advertising, travel, business, agriculture, and relationships.
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Bioethics: A Coursebook
Daan Kenis; Mayli Mertens; Franlu Vulliermet; Varsha Paleri · Open Book Publishers · 2025
This coursebook offers an expansive exploration of bioethics, an interdisciplinary field examining ethical, social, and legal dilemmas in medicine, life sciences, and beyond. It challenges conventional boundaries, embracing Van Rensselaer Potter’s vision of bioethics as a global, holistic ethics of life—integrating human health, environmental considerations, and transdisciplinary insights. Through engaging discussions, thought experiments, and case studies, the book empowers students to critically reflect on ethical questions without dictating rigid answers. Topics range from the historical roots of ethical thought to cutting-edge debates in molecular biology, such as epigenetics and exposomics, demonstrating how interconnected human, animal, and environmental health truly are. Central themes include the limits of scientific knowledge, the biases shaping research, and the evolving interplay between moral philosophy and empirical science. Students will encounter key philosophical frameworks—ontology, epistemology, and ethics—woven into practical bioethical applications. Feminist philosophy, experimental bioethics, and embedded ethics enrich this perspective, urging readers to question assumptions, embrace diverse viewpoints, and connect ethical principles with real-world science. Targeted at students in philosophy, biology, biomedical sciences, and bioengineering, this book is a toolkit for future thinkers, fostering a nuanced understanding of how ethical science advances humanity in a complex, ever-changing world.
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Building Bridges: Establishing a Foundation for Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare (Revised)
Andrea Nelson; Katherine Greene; Katie Cavnar · University of West Florida Pressbooks · 2025
Building Bridges: Establishing a Foundation for Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare (Revised) is an Open Educational Resource (OER) that focuses on teaching interprofessional collaboration in healthcare to students entering their respective health profession's program. This book will help students achieve success not only in their educational program, but as they experience various healthcare settings through internships and employment. This resource is targeted for students in healthcare professions.
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Leading in Health and Social Care
Sheree Lloyd; Richard Olley; Eleanor Milligan · Griffith University · 2023
This comprehensive textbook captures best international practice and is focused on the practical needs of leaders in health and social care. The text includes chapters that address evolving and innovative practices in leadership, ethics, leading people and human resource management, cultural safety for First Nations peoples, innovation, digital health, finance and resource management, systems thinking, change, evaluation and safety and quality. As an open educational resource, leaders, managers, students, policymakers and all readers interested in improving healthcare systems can access the book. The choice to publish on an open platform demonstrates our commitment to building a strong, transparent, and connected community of practice for health service leaders across many disciplines and across the world. We hope this pragmatic and contemporary textbook will reach a broad audience with an interest in strengthening the discipline of health service leadership and building fit-for-purpose healthcare systems that meet the needs of the diverse communities we serve. To achieve this we want the text to be free and widely available. To achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, health and quality education are key and this open educational resource (OER) is available for all to use to guide their practice and the strengthening of health and social care systems.
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Greek and Latin Roots: Part II - Greek
Peter Smith · BCcampus · 2016
Greek and Latin Roots: Part II - Greek is part two of a two part series. This series examines the systematic principles by which a large portion of English vocabulary has evolved from Latin and (to a lesser degree) from Greek. This book focuses on Greek roots. A link to the first part focusing on the Latin roots can be found below. Part II will try to impart some skill in the recognition and proper use of words derived from Greek. There is a stress on principles: although students will be continually looking at interesting individual words, their constant aim will be to discover predictable general patterns of historical development, so that they may be able to cope with new and unfamiliar words of any type that they have studied. They will be shown how to approach the problem by a procedure known as “word analysis,” which is roughly comparable to the dissection of an interesting specimen in the biology laboratory. The text assumes no previous knowledge of Greek, and does not involve the grammatical study of this language—except for a few basic features of noun and verb formation that will help students to understand the Greek legacy in English. All students will be asked to learn the Greek alphabet. This skill is not absolutely essential for a general knowledge of Greek roots in English. However, it will help students understand a number of otherwise puzzling features of spelling and usage. Although there will be some attention paid to the historical interaction of Greek with English, this text is definitely not a systematic history of the English language. It focuses on only those elements within English that have been directly or indirectly affected by this classical language. In order to provide the broadest possible service to students, the text emphasizes standard English vocabulary in current use. The more exotic technical vocabulary of science and medicine can be extremely interesting, but is explored in only summary fashion. Nevertheless, this text should b
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Greek and Latin Roots: Part I - Latin
Peter Smith · BCcampus · 2016
Greek and Latin Roots: Part I - Latin is part one of a two part series. This series examines the systematic principles by which a large portion of English vocabulary has evolved from Latin and (to a lesser degree) from Greek. This book focuses on Latin roots. A link to the second part focusing on the Greek roots can be found below. Part I will try to impart some skill in the recognition and proper use of words derived from Latin. There is a stress on principles: although students will be continually looking at interesting individual words, their constant aim will be to discover predictable general patterns of historical development, so that they may be able to cope with new and unfamiliar words of any type that they have studied. They will be shown how to approach the problem by a procedure known as “word analysis,” which is roughly comparable to the dissection of an interesting specimen in the biology laboratory. The text assumes no previous knowledge of Latin, and does not involve the grammatical study of this language—except for a few basic features of noun and verb formation that will help students to understand the Latin legacy in English. Although there will be some attention paid to the historical interaction of Latin with English, this text is definitely not a systematic history of the English language. It focuses on only those elements within English that have been directly or indirectly affected by this classical language. In order to provide the broadest possible service to students, the text emphasizes standard English vocabulary in current use. The more exotic technical vocabulary of science and medicine can be extremely interesting, but is explored in only summary fashion. Nevertheless, this text should be of considerable value, say, to a would-be botanist or medical doctor, if only by providing the foundation for further specialized enquiry.
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Practical introduction to writing reviews in health research
Dell Horey; Fernanda Buenfil; Joanne Marcucci · Council of Australian University Librarians · 2024
This book is a practical guide to writing about health research, which includes elementary reviews of the research literature and simple research reports. The goal is to teach you how to write about research clearly and with confidence.
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Qualitative Research – a practical guide for health and social care researchers and practitioners
Darshini Ayton; Tess Tsindos; Danielle Berkovic · Monash University · 2023
This guide is designed to support health and social care researchers and practitioners to integrate qualitative research into the evidence base of health and social care research. Qualitative research designs are diverse and each design has a different focus that will inform the approach undertaken and the results that are generated. The aim is to move beyond the “what” of qualitative research to the “how”, by (1) outlining key qualitative research designs for health and social care research – descriptive, phenomenology, action research, case study, ethnography, and grounded theory; (2) a decision tool of how to select the appropriate design based on a guiding prompting question, the research question and available resources, time and expertise; (3) an overview of mixed methods research and qualitative research in evaluation studies; (4) a practical guide to data collection and analysis; (5) providing examples of qualitative research to illustrate the scope and opportunities; and (6) tips on communicating qualitative research.
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Urban Health: A Practical Application for Clinical Based Learning
Cynthera McNeill; Umeika Stephens; Tara Walker · Wayne State University Library System · 2022
Urban Health: A Practical Application for Clinical Based Learning is an openly licensed, peer-reviewed textbook for clinical-based nursing educators covering barriers in urban health and their impact on patient health outcomes. The authors explore perspectives of urban communities, urban patients, and urban healthcare providers to offer insight into how healthcare providers can address disparities in urban healthcare, provide meaningful care with the lived experiences of urban patients in mind, and improve patient-provider communication by moving towards a more solution-driven, team-based care approach. Features include learning activities, exemplars, and case studies.
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Safety, Health, and Nutrition in Early Childhood Education
Jennifer Paris · College of the Canyons · 2018
Early childhood is a critical time in development. Many outcomes, both positive and negative, have their beginnings in these years. It is vital that children’s health and safety be protected. High-quality early care and education programs can play a valuable role in improving outcomesfor children.
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The Fundamentals of Healthcare Administration: Navigating Challenges and Coordinating Care
Whitney Hamilton; Dorothy Howell; Melissa Jordan · University of North Georgia Press · 2021
This book is written for those interested in acquiring a thorough knowledge base relative to the intricacies of the organizational theories, customs, and insights significant to the management of health service organizations. It examines the foundational aspects of leadership and management as they relate to establishing and maintaining the principles and practices within healthcare organizations. The book opens with a discussion on the differences between health, healthcare, and health care while providing an overview of healthcare management and organizational trends. It culminates in discussions of leadership, management, motivation, organizational behavior, and management thinking. Additionally, it discusses topics of information technology, teamwork, health disparities, organizational culture, performance, and change.