Nursing school 1st semester BOOKS

[kiknox]

Hi All,

What's your take on books for first semester in nursing school, specifically, did you rent, or purchase books? I am not sure if I should just purchase the bundle, or try to buy each book individually. I would like to get a perspective from someone who rented! I rented during undergrad, but not sure if it'll be best to rent with nursing books, since we will need some of our books for future semesters.

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

I would rent wherever you can and it doesn't matter too much if you get an older version of the book. They tend to be very similar anyway. I've used Chegg or Barnes & Noble many times and they have a fantastic service. The only time you have to be careful is if your professor requires a code for an online portion because those you'd have to buy, although oftentimes they'll offer just the code alone for sale instead of the code + book which works out a little cheaper if you just rent the book and then buy the code. I've saved hundreds, if not thousands, by renting or buying used. Amazon has great used books.

[katyq82]

You might want to ask the nursing department if the same books will be used in future semesters before deciding. We had to purchase a big package of books first semester, but then we used most of them all throughout the program. If its something that you'll only use for 1 semester, I'm all for renting.

[tara07733]

You might want to ask the nursing department if the same books will be used in future semesters before deciding. We had to purchase a big package of books first semester, but then we used most of them all throughout the program. If its something that you'll only use for 1 semester, I'm all for renting.

I agree. Before 1st semester started we got a list of books that we would be using and most have been used at different times throughout the course-- sometimes we used one more than the other but ultimately we would use all of them. I am 3 weeks away from graduating and I still refer back to books that I used during 1st semester. The only books I rented was one used for 2 summer public health nursing courses and a nutrition book which was listed on our syllabus but we never used it.

Good luck!

[kiknox]

Thank you! I think there's only two books that we need which require codes!

I would rent wherever you can and it doesn't matter too much if you get an older version of the book. They tend to be very similar anyway. I've used Chegg or Barnes & Noble many times and they have a fantastic service. The only time you have to be careful is if your professor requires a code for an online portion because those you'd have to buy, although oftentimes they'll offer just the code alone for sale instead of the code + book which works out a little cheaper if you just rent the book and then buy the code. I've saved hundreds, if not thousands, by renting or buying used. Amazon has great used books.

[kiknox]

There's about 3-4 books from the bundle that we will use, that came from the nursing department. That's why I was conflicted about renting. I may consider for next semester.

You might want to ask the nursing department if the same books will be used in future semesters before deciding. We had to purchase a big package of books first semester, but then we used most of them all throughout the program. If its something that you'll only use for 1 semester, I'm all for renting.