Text Book: Introduction to Health Care

INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH CARE, Fourth Edition, provides an easy-to-read introduction to the foundational skills necessary for a range of health care professions. This trusted text offers a comprehensive, yet highly accessible survey of both soft skills and basic clinical skills for those entering health care training programs or considering a career in health care. To prepare you for the realities of modern practice, the authors emphasize core competencies required by all health care professions, including communication, infection control, and professionalism. The text features a strong focus on developing critical thinking skills ("thinking like a health care professional") through a five-step problem-solving model that includes assessing a situation, considering alternatives, choosing an appropriate alternative, evaluating the results, and revising as needed. This unique approach makes INTRODUCTION TO HEALTH CARE, Fourth Edition, an ideal resource to help you transition from simple memorization to effective application of professional skills in a real-world setting.

Introduction to Health Care, Fourth Edition, is designed as an introductory text for learners who are entering college-level health care programs or for those who believe they may be interested in pursuing a career in health care. The fundamentals common to all health care professions are presented in this full-color text to create a foundation on which learners can build when they take their specific professional courses.

The topics included are appropriate for professions that involve direct patient care, such as nursing and dental assisting, as well as those that provide support services, such as health information technology and pharmacy technician. The goal of the text is to present a broad base of health care essentials. Therefore, skills and procedures that apply only to specific professions are not included.

The text is written in easy-to-understand language. A variety of learning exercises are included in each chapter. These exercises are designed to appeal to the different ways that learners comprehend material, including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. The text can be used by learners as a reference book after completion of their introductory courses.

Content for Today’s Health Care Professional

Introduction to Health Care, Fourth Edition, includes topics essential for today’s learner and tomorrow’s health care professional. The basic concepts that create the foundation for health care education have been expanded beyond those usually included in an introductory text. The following topics have been included in response to the current needs of health care educators and employers.

• Thinking skills

• Learning styles and study techniques

• Complementary and alternative medicine

• Prevention and wellness strategies

• Lifelong learning and continuing education

• Documentation

• Cost-control measures

• Performance improvement

• Personal efficiency

• Customer service

Emphasis on Thinking Skills

The dramatic growth of the health care industry promises to provide increasing numbers of employment opportunities for graduates of health care programs. At the same time, today’s graduates face new challenges. Changes in health care are rapid and continuous. Professionals at all levels are being given additional responsibilities. Efficiency and flexibility, combined with competency, are vital to workplace success. To be competent and successful in this everchanging environment, health care professionals must be able to think for themselves and learn and adapt as necessary to meet current employment demands.

The authors recognize the need of health care educators for materials that can assist them in preparing students to assess new situations, determine appropriate action, and apply on the job what they learned in the classroom. This text is designed to help meet this need. Learners are introduced to the concept of thinking like a health care professional in Chapter 1.

The specific skills that make up applied thinking are explained in everyday language. A five-step problem-solving model is clearly described to help learners systematically approach new situations. Every chapter includes exercises called “Thinking It Through” that require learners to apply the concepts presented in the text to typical on-the-job scenarios. Each chapter then concludes with two application exercises and one problem-solving exercise that provide opportunities to summarize and apply the chapter content.

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