Hi,

I'm finally starting my first semester of nursing school! I'm SO excited and nervous! I thought it would be a good idea to buy books and begin studying from now. Can anyone recommend good easy to understand Care Plan Book, Lab and Diagnostic Book, Pathophysiology and Nursing Diagnosis Book.

I would gladly appreciate it.

I would first see what is required for you to purchase first. I usually go all out and buy "great" books that I think will be helpful for that particular class... and then I kick myself in the butt at the end of the semester because I never looked at them.

I am glad I didn't do that for nursing school because I know I wouldn't open them. Our required books to purchase are very indepth and wonderful -- and if I don't understand something, I usually look it up on wikipedia.

However, I will recommend an awesome care plan book that has done wonders for me!! Here is the link: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780323039543&itm=1

That book is amazing and am glad I purchased it. Our school actually ended up deciding to make that a required book for 2nd semester students.

my recommendations are:

care plan book

• nursing care plans: nursing diagnosis and intervention, 6th edition, by meg gulanick and judith l. myers - this book is student friendly and has a free online care plan constructor (http://www1.us.elsevierhealth.com/merlin/gulanick/constructor/index.cfm)
  
• care plan book: maternal/newborn plans of care: guidelines for individual care, third edition (currently) by marilynn e. doenges and mary frances moorhouse - for ob
  

nursing diagnosis reference

• nanda-i nursing diagnoses: definitions & classification 2007-2008 published by nanda international - this includes all the current 188 nursing diagnoses, their symptoms and related factors only and runs about $25 - you have to purchase it directly from nanda. most nursing care plan books do not include all the nursing diagnoses.
  
• nursing diagnosis handbook: a guide to planning care, 7th edition, by betty j. ackley and gail b. ladwig - this is a reference book that includes all the nursing diagnoses up to 2005 - it also has a free online care plan constructor where you can view what the actual pages of the book look like (sample page: [color=#3366ff]deficient fluid volume) - includes outcomes and interventions for all the nursing diagnoses - runs $39.95

lab and diagnostic book

• mosby's diagnostic and laboratory test reference by kathleen deska pagana and timothy james pagana - includes lab, x-ray and other types of diagnostic tests

pathophysiology book

• pathophysiology: a 2-in-1 reference for nurses by springhouse, springhouse publishing company staff - runs $44.95 - organized by the major systems of the body - does not include psych or ob related diseases
  
• pathophysiology: the biologic basis for disease in adults and children, 5th edition, by kathryn l. mccance and sue e. heuther - this is an unabridged work that gets quite involved in the pathophysiology of disease - cost is $93.95.
  

something that you can also do is look for used copies of some of the more expensive textbooks on the market (such as the mccance/huether pathophysiology textbook). when i was in nursing school years ago a friend gave my mother a 10-year old copy of a medical/surgical textbook to give to me. that book became a wonderful supplemental back up to our required textbook. i found stuff in that book that wasn't in our required textbook as well as alternative explanations of things that helped me understand what the required textbook was saying.

You'll also need at least one NCLEX book. We were required to get the Saunderss comprehensive review, and I also have the "illustrated" study guide and a Kaplan review book that is all test strategies and practice NCLEX's, no review questions. My school offers a NCLEX strategies class that I'm taking next semester, and these are 2 of the texts for that class. It helps to do lots of questions, and to get different author's reviews of the material. I also got the textbook's study guide for patho this semester, it was "required," although they never asked for it, but I worked the whole thing.

Thanks so much!! I will look into the book mentioned above.