Mary Kowalski, co-author of the "Textbook of Basic Nursing"


Kowalski signing copies of the "Textbook of Basic Nursing" at a recent conference.

News Release

IWV Campus

Cerro Coso College Professor Co-Author of Major Text Book

November 7, 2007

Cerro Coso Community College recognizes the accomplishments of Professor, Mary Kowalski. Continuing a 35 year tradition, the ninth edition of Textbook of Basic Nursing by Caroline Rosdahl and Mary Kowalski has recently been published. Cerro Coso Community College Professor, Mary Kowalski RN, MSN, has been a major contributor to this text for about 20 years and began as co-author to the text in 2001.

The content of the ninth edition has been completely updated and provides expansive resources for instructors. In addition to the responsibilities of writing more than half of this edition, Kowalski states that she developed 63 chapters of the PowerPoint slides, drawing from her 25 years of vocational nursing instruction. Kowalski states, "The slides I created were designed for the practical, day-to-day use by an instructor and the students." The instructor, who may be a novice or veteran, can adjust the presentations for individualized classroom use.

This text is used widely in the United States and also in Canada. Cerro Coso Community College has been using the text consistently since the start of the Vocational Nursing Program (long before Kowalski came to Cerro Coso). Textbook of Basic Nursing is considered a classic among textbooks for vocational nurses. "It is a lot of work to update the information and write for such a comprehensive text, but I find the end results are well worth the effort," continues Kowalski. The Textbook of Basic Nursing has received high rates on past National Licensing Exams which means a large percentage of nurses begin their careers with this book as their foundation of knowledge.

Kowalski is a full-time professor at Cerro Coso Community College and has been at the College since 1996. She has also contributed to several other textbooks and nursing resources, both at the RN and LVN levels.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Joann Handeland, Director of Public Information (760) 384-6230