Virtual Clinical Excursions 3.0 for Fundamental Concepts and Skills for Nursing, 2e

This dynamic and engaging workbook/CD-ROM package guides users through Pacific View Regional Hospital a multi-level, virtual hospital setting in which students meet and care for a set of highly complex and diverse patients. The VCE workbook acts as a map, guiding users through the interactive setting as they care for patients in the virtual hospital and draw connections between these nursing experiences and their textbook discussions. Each workbook lesson includes a reading assignment from Fundamental Concepts and Skills for Nursing, 2nd Edition and activities that tie in with the accompanying software. Virtual Clinical Excursions equips users with the practical knowledge and skills needed for clinical rotations, while sharpening the decision-making skills that will help them set priorities for care, collect and interpret data, prepare and administer medications, and reach conclusions about patient problems. Emphasis on active learning engages users as they are asked to identify, collect, and process information for evidence-based patient care. Exposure to realistic information resourcessuch as the EPR, MAR, and chartsprepares users to manage data for decision-making in patient care settings. Users' access to and interaction with diverse hospital databases strengthens their core computing skills. The precepts of safe medication administration are reinforced as users select, prepare, and administer medications in a safe environment. Common medication errors are embedded within the software to enhance clinical realism and prepare users for situations they may encounter in practice. Workbook lessons correlate reading assignments from the textbook with patients in the virtual hospital. Lessons are also available online so users can complete their assignments and submit them electronically to the instructor. Users' knowledge of physical assessment is enhanced by examining and recording vital signs as well as regions of the body (e.g., head and neck, chest, back and spine, upper extremities, abdomen, pelvic, and lower extremities.) Psychosocial aspects of nursing are incorporated through nurse-client interaction videos, underscoring the psychosocial component of patient care. Users have the opportunity to monitor and care for one or more patients during three 45-minute periods of care within a 12-hour shift. Clinical Alerts highlight major changes in the patients condition within each 45-minute period. A Medication Room contains a wide variety of drug storage areas, such as a unit dosage cabinet, automated dispensing system, IV storage, and a refrigerator. A Drug Guide holds drug monographs for all medications used within the program. 10 unique patients/cases are presented, drawn from three floors (Medical-Surgical, Skilled Nursing, and Obstetrics) each with complex conditions the user must manage and monitor within the virtual hospital. Online testing program includes over 250 NCLEX®-style questions, allowing instructors to assess and measure users' understanding and clinical judgment of each patient/case. Each workbook activity includes clock icons indicating the length of time it should take the average user to complete the activity, as well as linkage icons that alert readers to any previous activities that should be completed first.Susan C. deWit MSN RN CNS PHN is the author of 'Virtual Clinical Excursions 3.0 for Fundamental Concepts and Skills for Nursing, 2e', published 2005 under ISBN 9781416030348 and ISBN 1416030344.