Why It’s Important for Fundamentals Students to Continue Using Books — Reading is a Crucial Skill

Why It’s Important for Fundamentals Students to Continue Using Books — Reading is a Crucial Skill

The nursing field is always changing, and nurses are expected to handle various health challenges in our society. To do this, nurses need a solid foundation of knowledge to contribute effectively to people’s health and well-being. It’s disappointing that a testing provider recently suggested that educators should stop using textbooks and fundamental content in their programs.

As someone who has been writing fundamental texts for over 30 years, I know that current, evidence-based fundamental content isn’t readily available on platforms like YouTube or academic websites. Trustworthy fundamental content is mostly found in textbooks.

Simulation Learning System (SLS) as an Alternative Clinical Experience

Our main role as educators is to prepare today’s students to become tomorrow’s skilled nurses. I strongly recommend that we don’t compromise the learning process by eliminating the valuable knowledge source of textbooks.

Textbooks provide essential knowledge to prepare students for their roles and the skills needed to care for a diverse range of patients. Many practicing nurses value the knowledge gained from textbooks. Today, students can combine this knowledge with interactive digital learning tools, like Sherpath with Elsevier Adaptive Quizzing (EAQ), to enhance retention through videos, application exercises, problem-solving cases, and adaptive learning methods.

Our profession demands aspiring and practicing nurses to be knowledgeable, observant, analytical, skillful, ethical, and compassionate. These competencies can’t be fully developed without reading for reference, modeling, application, and practice.

Another unique aspect of nursing is the holistic approach nurses must take with each patient. Understanding patients on a deeper level is vital. This expertise is becoming harder to teach due to limited clinical time and fewer hands-on experiences. Educators must ensure future nurses have the knowledge and skills to advocate for patients and make informed decisions under pressure. The foundation of knowledge from textbooks, paired with digital tools like Sherpath with EAQ, equips nursing students for their careers.

How the TPACK Framework Can Help Nurse Educators Embrace Digital Learning Tools

Clinical judgment, defined by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, is the result of critical thinking and decision-making. Our fundamental textbooks provide a strong knowledge base and explain how to apply it to patient situations for informed decisions.

Nurses gather information, anticipate patient responses, compare actual responses, recognize health issues, and choose interventions. Our book’s core model empowers students’ understanding of clinical judgment, critical thinking, the Nursing Process, and clinical decision-making.

With each edition, we include the latest scientific evidence relevant to nursing and healthcare concepts. This ensures the research applied in our text is current and crucial for student learning. Eliminating this from the curriculum undervalues the Fundamentals course and its importance.

Students learn to appreciate research when they see it in the rationale behind techniques they’ll perform for patients. As Sir Richard Steele said, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Shielding students from challenging parts of learning, like reading and comprehension, doesn’t prepare them for absorbing and applying information in their careers.

In addition to critical thinking, a nurse’s foundation of knowledge should include awareness of our diverse humanity and the various aspects of patient encounters. Concepts like culture, spirituality, psychology, and family health are essential for a comprehensive approach to patient care.

Our profession keeps evolving, and nurses must handle various health challenges worldwide. As educators, our vital role is to ensure future nurses gain essential knowledge from textbooks, digital components, and lessons, and then apply it for strong clinical judgment.

Lifelong learning is crucial in nursing, and reading is a necessary skill. Don’t overlook this skill for first-year students; it’s something they’ll need.