How to use this book

Case studies in healthcare are a great way to improve education by bringing learning to life. They are powerful and effective learning strategies. By bringing real world problems into student learning, case studies invite active participation and innovative solutions to problems. As students work together to discuss the cases, they can apply clinical reasoning when responding to the health and wellbeing of the people in each case study.

This book  consists of case studies that encourage creative problem-solving, higher-order critical thinking, promote learner involvement, and immediate use of newly acquired knowledge and skills. While these case studies are all fictional, some are inspired by true stories. The authentic contexts are designed to expose students to various viewpoints from multiple sources and help them understand why people may have different health outcomes.

This book was designed to facilitate an integrated approach to a new Bachelor of Nursing curriculum, underpinned by a transformative, place-based approach to learning. The case studies draw from our creative faculty team’s extensive professional clinical experiences, forming a series of part, each introducing a fictional family. Each part includes a series of case studies about the family members. Alongside each case study are questions requiring students to analyse data to reach a conclusion. Each case study is informed by current evidence and educational practice knowledge. Thinking points encourage students to consider broader implications, stretching their thinking about how policies or other resources might be considered and applied. Students can explore their role, as well as how their clinical interventions are underpinned by professional values and practice requirements by professional and/or registering bodies.

The case studies in this book offer opportunities for various healthcare disciplines to develop or adapt questions to meet their needs. They can be used as a toolkit for planning and delivering education and training to support student learning. The case studies can supplement lectures, tutorials, or assigned readings and in small groups, these case studies can facilitate collaborative communities of practice, promoting problem-solving skills and communication.

Case studies are valuable for developing interprofessional practice. When students from various health disciplines work together to explore a case, they will work through different opinions, methods, and perspectives, learning about, with, and from each other.

These case studies can also be used beyond problem-solving. Students can be asked what they might do in a similar situation and think about what could have been done differently.

Acknowledgments

The development of this open education resource would not have been possible without the work done by the authors and our colleagues, families, friends, students, and the people we have cared for who inspire us. We would also like to thank our incredible team of Southern Cross University librarians for their support and guidance throughout this project. Thank you to the copyeditor, who provided valuable feedback and advice to ensure we delivered a book structured for readability, and many thanks to our peer reviewers, who ensured our case studies were contemporary and appropriate for practice.

I wondered how this was created, 

Then I remember the many hours spent, 

In deep discussion, debate, and contemplation, 

Through a myriad of life’s confronting moments, 

The inspiration to create together, we persevered, 

And words danced across our blank screens, 

A tapestry of nursing expertise and wisdom, 

Shared to inspire a new generation.

~Poem by Jennene Greenhill~