Textbook substitutions...

memphispanda, RN · Aug 24, 2003

Spend the extra $20 and get the current version of your books, at least of the actual nursing books. Things DO change in nursing, and nurses change/update their knowledge as things change. Not to mention all the times your instructor will say "Know chart 12-4 on page 215" and go on to something else. Your old book may not have that chart at all.

I cheaped may way through A&P and Micro on old edition books, but no way would it have worked in my nursing classes.

RNIAM, BSN, RN · Aug 24, 2003

Your idea is not a good one and you will have problems. Please pay the extra 20 bucks now and save yourself a world of grief later.

classicaldreams · Aug 24, 2003

Hi PlanetCaroline,

In my prior life, I produced college texts for publishers. Some of the new editions that landed on my desk were not much more than pages taken from the last edition (literally). While new editions are sometimes a repackaging ploy to boost sales, it isn't always a publisher's motivation. Some subjects, i.e., science and law, have had significant changes.

Does Amazon.com provide the table of contents? Compare indices too. You can read the publisher's marketing material and the book's preface. They may help.

Relying on an old edition is dependent for me upon the person teaching the course. You may be able to purchase access to the book's website to fill the gaps between editions.

Good luck!

PlanetCaroline · Aug 24, 2003

Despite the warnings, I am buying on the cheap as much as possible. Online there is an array textbooks & tutorials on Microbiology, anatomy, acid/base chemistry, patient simulators, phys. assessment, acls, pharm, you name it. http://www.nyerrn.com has so much free information, it is mindboggling. Also, some med & nursing schools post their syllabi & course notes for the public to view. Those free resources will help me survive school.

If I save $10-$20 per book, the savings will add up. The money I save in books will pay for a vacation for me to rest my aching back & feet and for my spouse to rest his aching head and shredded patience.

It is not only about money. It is about paying for quality products. My nutrition book was 850 pages & $40. Except for the tables printed in the front and back covers, most of the material was redundant. Okay, Krebs was redundant but I was grateful for the repetition in that case. I plan to cut up the book, saving diagrams of Krebs & ETC, the 20 pages of tables & recycling the rest. Makes me sad how many trees died for that book.

Okay, okay, enough of my whiny rant. For the books that will help me survive class AND the nclex AND the floors, I will pay extra. So far my most valuable purchase has been my Mosby's Pocket Medical Encyclopedia--- $8.00. My anatomy coloring book is fun too. I love my Merck Manual but I had that for my home use long before I considered nursing. Got Gray's Anatomy for free. Also, picked up physio & pathology books dirt cheap. One physio book for med students is from 1973 but the material seems suprisingly current. The book is still being used today by med students, but a much later edition.

At the end of the first quarter I will let you know how my experiment in saving $ goes. I have already bought an ancient edition (1991) of a nursing fundamentals book for $3. Naturally, I will buy a more current version of nursing fundamentals, but this book will get me started learning the basics of nursing & it is cheaper than anything I'd find elsewhere.

Heh, heh... to think I'm calling a 1991 edition "ancient." I consider myself young & I graduated college in 1991. My husband who considers himself younger than me would really be mad...he graduated high school in 1972.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

---

Caroline

EmeraldNYL, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2003

Caroline,

Since you are going to Drexel I can tell you what books you don't really need. You definitely DO need Med-Surg and Fundamentals and the Critical Care textbooks-- get the new versions. You can definitely do without the books for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (if they're still even doing that class, I heard they were gonna change it to Genetics). The Nursing in Society book was interesting but not essential since there were no exams in that class. The Health Promotion book also is not necessarily needed. Don't buy the Nursing Leadership book when you take that class. Whatever you do, buy the new version of the Pharm book-- drug info. changes often. When do your classes start? I am done Sept. 5th and I am getting really antsy!! It was a crazy year!

OnMyWay · Aug 25, 2003

I was just watching "Birth Day" today and it was about how much the birthing process has changed in just the last 20 years. Not too long before that the nurses used to have to listen to the baby's heartbeats with a stethoscope mounted on their heads and manually feel the contractions. Even back in 1984 when I had my son, things were drastically different.

So I guess what I'm saying is that they CAN tell a 35 year old nurse that her knowledge is antiquated if she had been out of nursing for a while and not keeping up with the latest information.