so, you are about to start nursing school...

i remember my first semester of nursing school and how excited/nervous/weird i felt. i thought i would put together a few posts of things i have learned so far in school--items i have needed, books i have loved, advice i should have heeded (oh, i rhymed). if you are out there and getting ready to start school, say hello in my comments section!

books i have used over and over again and would recommend strongly:


Math for Nurses by mary Jo Boyer
ISBN # 0781753724
This little pocket book taught me all I know about dosage calculations. I love that it has a pull out plastic card to put in your scrub pocket, and that it goes through a step by step math review before getting to the good stuff. If you are having dosage anxiety, pick this guy up!



NCLEX-RN Made Incredibly Easy
ISBN # 158255451X
One of the best things you can do for yourself is pick up a good NCLEX book--this is the big lisencing exam you will take after graduation. Before each exam, answer NCLEX questions based on what you are studying. This books has very straightforward Q&A with well explained rationales. I even had teachers pull test questions from this book! It is THAT good!


Saunders Nursing Drug Handbook
ISBN# 1416040633
I have a couple different drug handbooks and some drug cards, yet I always come back to this book while doing my research and writing up my care plans. The drug definitions are clear and concise--you actually understand what the meds do to the body after reading the description! Side effects are laid out in order of how frequently they occur, and how to correctly assess your patient while they are taking a specific drug is outlined. This is an easy-peasy non-intimidating handbook. I have the 2003 version (and I havent used the CD on this but have heard it is nice, too).


Handbook for Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical Surgical Nursing
ISBN#9780781747035
This little handbook lists pathophysiologies in alphabetical oder and is the size of a scrub pocket. I love, love, love that it gives nursing diagnosis w/ related to's after each patho!! A must have for clinical and paperwor, but also GREAT for exams--the info is clear, concise. Wish I had it at the very beginning. Dang it!


Nursing Diagnosis in Psychiatric Nursing: Care Plans and Psychotropic Medications
by Mary C. Townsend
ISBN# 0803611668
This little pocket book was also a lifesaver in mental health, a class and clinical I loathed. It is difficult to find nursing diagnoses for MH in other Nanda books, and this has everything you need to understand the disease processes, assess, diagnose, etc. This even outlines the meds in depth for each disorder so you can write out your med sheets/cards w/out the use of another drug guide. We passed these back and forth throughout my rotation and they were a God-send. Really.

Delmar's Maternal-Infant Nursing Care Plans
ISBN# 0766859932
I think I mentioned this in another post, but I really like this book in that it has specific care plans for OB. Delmar also makes one for pediatrics which would be highly useful. The nursing diagnosis books we were to buy in my school bookstore did not have care plans laid out by specialty, which is why these books are handy. You can see how things like fluid volume deficit affects a laboring mom or newborn baby instead of a comatose patient. We all pitched in and bought one of these and passed it around so we could share the expense. It was well-worth the money!


Mosby's Diagnostic and Laboratory Test Reference
ISBN# 0323046347
Do you know what BUN is? What about Total Protein?
Do you know why it would be elevated in your patient with renal disease?
Do you know what a CAT scan or MRI is, why it is ordered and what it does exactly?
Well, you will have to know what these tests are, how they are used, and WHY your patient needs them (which is the hardest piece of the puzzle). I love that this book tells you the WHY of it all! My classmates love to borrow this book from me because we haven't found a comparable one. It is GREAT!

I have many books, yet these are ones that specifically got me through rough spots in the program. Hope this little list helps you as you wander through B&N and peruse Amazon. Let me also say that you can find almost EVERYTHING at half.com or alibris.com and you will save a TON of money buying your books there. I have saved over $1000 on books and I have twice the books because I have bought them there--also I have bought older editions and have had no problem using them in my classes (like instead of the new 8th ed I will buy the 7th ed--usually NOTHING has changed!).