Looking for recommendations for a drug book and lab reference book

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I am starting my ADN program in January. At orientation, we were told to purchase a 2011 drug book and a lab reference book (diagnosis and labs). I looked at about 7 drug books at the bookstore, and would be interested in recommendations for what others have purchased and found helpful. There were no lab reference books, so I am looking online for that. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Blue Cat

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I am starting my ADN program in January. At orientation, we were told to purchase a 2011 drug book and a lab reference book (diagnosis and labs). I looked at about 7 drug books at the bookstore, and would be interested in recommendations for what others have purchased and found helpful. There were no lab reference books, so I am looking online for that. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Blue Cat

i use davis drug book, its great, I have their lab book but never really used it. The reason I never used it was b/c I have the davis care plan book and nursing diagnosis books as well. When i would be doing careplans for my patients if they had say pancreatitis it would list the lab and diagnostic studies that would be done and why they would be out of range. I hope this helps you! By the way my school suggests the carpinueto (sp) diagnosis book and it SUCKS.....I bought it and it was HORRIBLE.....Once I went out and spent more money on the Davis one I was getting to bed way earlier than my classmates and my teachers accepted my careplans and I was done halfway through the semesters while other students were still suffering trying to get careplans accepted.

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I have a lab book from like 2002 that I "acquired." That was pre-nursing though. You're better off with a smartphone app if you have such a phone. We had to buy Davis drugs book when I started. The book is not easy to use. There's way too much in too small a space. Again, something like a phone app (ePocrates) is better. Sure, it lacks some "nursing interventions," but big deal.

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the problem with the phone apps is what they lack, while I have an iphone and I use it on the floor incase of emergency when lets say my patient has a new med added to there careplan. However when it comes to clinical prep there is noway to prepare all the info needed for my clinical worksheets. Nor is the info on the apps such as ePocrates good enough for the Pharmacology classes. The davis drug guide is very easy to understand also I am not sure what the other poster was talking about, it is VERY basic.....if you can't understand this book then you will be introuble in nursing i'm sorry to say.

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Specializes in Cath Lab & Interventional Radiology.

i have the davis drug guide for iphone. it has all of the same information as the davis drug guide book only it is much more user friendly. once you pay for it ($50 just like the paper form) it is on your phone forever. if you do not have a smartphone (my school doesn't allow us to use phones at clinical) i would suggest looking up pdas on ebay (or an ipod touch works great too). since i cannot use my phone i picked up a palm t3 on ebay for $25 and then payed the $50 for the davis drug guide. you just type in the drug, generic or trade name, and whallah the information pops right up. it will save you so much time!! all of my classmates wished they had a pda, because i am able to look up all the drugs so much faster. i also think if you purchase the davis drug guide paper copy there is a cd that allows you to upload it to pda, but i don't know exactly how that works. another bonus is that for the first year you get updates. while you have your year subscription you also have access to the davis website that has all of the same information. i paid for one year (that is almost up) for this whole year i have been able to use it online, permanently download it to my palm t3, and access it through the davis app for my iphone. getting a new subscription every year is not necessary, but i think i will renew one more time so that i can permanently download it to my iphone too (since i currently require the web subscription to use it on my iphone) that way i will no longer require web access every time i use my phone.

i hope this helps! good luck!:)

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

Epocrates on my Ipod is the best thing ever. It's free, updates are made daily, it is fast and always in my pocket. They have a subscription tool for nurses but I've never used it, I'm sure it would have labs. It might not meet the requirements of your program, but it is awesomely portable.

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the problem with the phone apps is what they lack, while I have an iphone and I use it on the floor incase of emergency when lets say my patient has a new med added to there careplan. However when it comes to clinical prep there is noway to prepare all the info needed for my clinical worksheets. Nor is the info on the apps such as ePocrates good enough for the Pharmacology classes. The davis drug guide is very easy to understand also I am not sure what the other poster was talking about, it is VERY basic.....if you can't understand this book then you will be introuble in nursing i'm sorry to say.

What does ePocrates lack that you really need?

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if you are looking for print resources mosby has the following available.

mosby's 2011 intravenous medications 27th edition

mosby's diagnostic and laboratory test reference 10th edition

prior to starting at a facility that provided multiple on-line resources, i carried all three of these.

if you are looking for electronic resources you might consider one of the following:

is available as a free download for iphone, blackberry, palm, android, and windows mobile formats.

mobile micromedex
is available as a free download for students and is available in both palm os and pocket pc formats. it as also available as a free download via the itunes app store.

i hope this information was helpful.

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epocrates doesn's lack what you really need as far as patient care on the floor and what you really need as far as working as a RN. But it lacks what I need to fill out my clinical prep sheets that my school requires for preconfrence. I need more information about the drug that is not listed on epocrates. I have that and I use it but I need to pull out my davis guide. I also have med cards that I use but when I am still having to hand in clinical prep sheets to get accepted I need to use the daviis guide to find all the required information to get the careplan accepted.

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Thanks for all the feedback! I will order the Davis's Drug Book. I do have a smartphone and will download epocrates, but I need to have an actual book for school. I like the idea of having a PDA just for school, so I might look into that. I imagine we will not be allowed to use our phones.

Blue Cat

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

I like lexi-comp drug handbook it is the most comprehensive drug book I have found.

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Thanks for all the feedback! I will order the Davis's Drug Book. I do have a smartphone and will download epocrates, but I need to have an actual book for school. I like the idea of having a PDA just for school, so I might look into that. I imagine we will not be allowed to use our phones.

Blue Cat

There are a lot of kids in the class that have smart phones, but I think I'm the only one who uses apps that are actually useful. I pull my phone out fairly often in class and clinical to verify information. No one seems to care.

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