School supplies other than books?

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Hi everyone!

I Offically start school August 30th for the BN program here in Canada. My college just eliminated the RN and LPN program, and they have made many changes to this year's new BN program. Our book list isn't even out yet, can you believe?? I am not a last minute person, so you can imagine how this is stressing me out....:lol2:

I am wondering what kind of supplies you all purchased your first year, or wish you had purchased. I am planning on buying a small portable laptop for classes (around a 10.5 inch screen) and have heard flashcards are also a great idea... What other supplies other than the obvious (pens, paper) did you purchase that made studying, or organizing your notes, easier? What supplies did you use to take with you to clinical?

Thank you in advance!

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I use colored sticky tabs that you can write on and lots and lots of highlighters. I also prefer pencil to pen, so a good portable sharpener. Lots of pink erasers. Three ring binder dividers--I have a feeling we're going to need a lot of those while in the program.

But really, I have no clue what I'm actually going to need because I haven't started my program yet.

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I know I have read a great coloumn on here about school supplies.. I will hunt for it....

Okay I would get a good backpack with wheels, a lunch kit.

Black pens, the kinda that don't smug.

A red pen

Good pencils and of course erasers, I like the eraser pen.

Get multi colour highlighters, and post it notes.

Buy a clipboard, Walmart sells a nice Five Star one for 4$.

Get good big 2" or larger binders.

Get some report covers

Don't forget paper, and if your like me, get a good sized planner.

Get recipe cards to make your flash cards.

A whole punch, again wallmart has a binder style for less than 5$.

Little rings to put your flash cards on.

A large pencil case.

Hair Ties

Litte klennex pack

Keep some toonies, in your pencil case, just in case.

I also recommend a wall calendar. Superstore has this great Mom's Kitchen Calendar that you can put on your fridge (includes the magnets) and its less than 10 dollars and is 18 months. Its starts September 2010.

It has good space to write in due dates, important things and finals.

Don't sckimp on the stethoscope, I personally use a Littman Classic II, again there is a thread on here about stethoscopes too!

Get comfy shoes, wait to buy your nursing shoes until you see you schools requirements, but again, Walmart sells Dr.Scholls shoes that are super comfy.

Good luck and enjoy the program!

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Forgot to include... a watch with a second hand.

And don't get scrubs until you hear what you school wants you to wear. My school has a set uniform colour.

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I'm looking into a desk, a laser printer, a new backpack, a new iMac...

I guess I only NEED the new backpack, but the other three will help me to actually do homework.

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Highlighters and diff color pens are my bestfriends. I prefer pens because they don't smudg like a pencil and I want to keep my notes forever. I have used pencils to take notes and by the end of the semseter I can't read my own writing--pencils are not long lasting like pens. When I go shopping for supplies I am like a lil kid--I want this, this, that and that and I end up using just 1/3 of the supplies. I am going to buy a good watch.

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Specializes in student; help!.
Hi everyone!

I Offically start school August 30th for the BN program here in Canada. My college just eliminated the RN and LPN program, and they have made many changes to this year's new BN program. Our book list isn't even out yet, can you believe?? I am not a last minute person, so you can imagine how this is stressing me out....:lol2:

I am wondering what kind of supplies you all purchased your first year, or wish you had purchased. I am planning on buying a small portable laptop for classes (around a 10.5 inch screen) and have heard flashcards are also a great idea... What other supplies other than the obvious (pens, paper) did you purchase that made studying, or organizing your notes, easier? What supplies did you use to take with you to clinical?

Thank you in advance!

I heart Dr Grip mechanical pencils so hard. Nice and fat with a squishy pad at the bottom.

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I was thinking about this earlier and the one of the most valuable things that has helped me through college & work is my collection of tupperware. There were & will be days when I will eat breakfast at 7-8 AM and not return home until midnight. Packing my food in my tupperware allowed me to save money and eat healthy.

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I started my program back in January, and will be starting my 2nd semester this Aug. My suggestions as far as supplies goes would be to SAVE MONEY anywhere you can. If your a laptop kind of person (meaning someone who prefers typing notes in class opposed to pen and paper) then thats a good purchase, but if not save that money. My Nursing supplies come in a bundle that I can get in the bookstore at my school. 1st semester kit contained stethescope, BP cuff, tuning fork, pen light, tape measure, and a reflex hammer. all that for just $50. Same with 2nd semester just diff kit, more expensive but more stuff also. Try and see if you school has that because its way easier and cheaper than buying everything seperate. Also i personally ddnt see the need for an expensive stethescope. I used the one that came in my kit and it worked perfectly fine. My watch I got from walmart for like $10. I think a common misconception people have going into nursing school is that they need to get the top of the line supplies and thats not true. Especially as you progress it gets more expensive. Whatever you do try and save money now and get the basic things you need, pens paper etc. I used the same supplies that i used for my other classes and still made good grades.

Hope this helps =)

oh lol the one thing i did fall in love with is those highlighters with the colored post it things on the side Love Those!!!!

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Specializes in Tele RN on the West Coast.

All of the posts above are great and I also recommend most of the items they mentioned. Here's a list of the top 7 items all new nursing students should buy:

-3 inch binder w/ dividers

-clipboard with space in it for papers and attached calculator

-comfortable walking shoes

-any littmann steth. (the cheapest litt. will do fine)

-day planner of some sort

-watch

-pen light

In my opinion these are the essentials (in addition to the stuff you already know of like pens and paper).

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The Papermate Sharpwriter mechanical pencils are absolutely the best, IMO. The way they're designed makes it so you can just slightly rotate the pencil periodically to keep that really sharp point (and the graphite won't just spin back to the dull side). The erasers are also good, not those crappy color ones that just smear all over the page. I've got cases of them.

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