Nursing Drug Guide/Handbook recommendations

Nursing Students Student Assist

Published

I will soon be starting my 20 week long nursing pharmacology class for my RN program. They have asked us to get a nursing drug guide/handbook but do not require any specific ones and the professor didn't have any suggestions; she actually stated "there really are not any "bad" drug guides..I would suggest the most "cost efficient" one that gives understandable nursing considerations." That being said, I haven't a clue which ones are commonly considered better than others. Does anyone have any suggestions? I do have some basic knowledge from working at a mail-order pharamcy for over a year but would really like to learn as much as possible and have as much knowledge at my finger tips. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I really want to get as much out of my program as possible! Thank you!!

Yes we definitely need a book with lots of nursing implications -- is Davis best for that??

Yep, Davis is great for nursing implications. Have never had to search elsewhere. If you buy the book you get full online access as well (which is all I use now).

Up Vote Up Vote ×

my school suggested the Pearson drug guide, which I bought. I found it to be hard to use, so I bought Davis which I am thrilled with. The online component is wonderful and I use it on my ipod for clinicals which is so incredibly handy!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cath Lab & Interventional Radiology.

I would suggest the Davis Drug Guide for smart phone. It has ALL of the info that you will need, and really speeds up the process. It is totally worth the price. If you buy it through unbound medicine, you get to download it to one device permanently (no internet connection needed). I have it on the iphone, and really love it! It has really been an asset when looking drugs up at clinical or for assignments. Super QUICK!

As far as Ipads, Not every iphone app is on the ipad. You CAN run every Iphone app on the ipad in double resolution, but it is pretty grainy. I really only prefer to use ipad native apps on the ipad. Some of the apps that I like are : RN Careboard, Eponyms, Micromedex, webmd, medscape, & nurse tabs -med surg.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Infusion, Med/Surg/Tele, Outpatient.

I love, love, love Lexi Comp online. It is my go-to reference for daily use. Esp. b/c it has monitoring parameters, toxicities, and focused assessment.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but I think you are at the same school as I am. You will definitely need a drug guide with nursing implications. Epocrates is a great app, but you will need additional information that it doesn't provide. But, you won't need it at all this quarter. Pharm 2nd quarter will be the first place you need it.

I would check out a few and see which one seems user friendly to you. I definitely recommend one that has an e-book. It is helpful to be able to do some copy/paste for a variety of assignments.

I ultimately choce to skip the hard copy drug guide and went with a whole set of products from Nursing Central. I love the ability of the products to interact and link me to additional information when I need it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Is the $160 to get the Nursing Central download for your smartphone/web... is that a lifetime membership fee or is that a yearly fee? It looks very valuable... that may have to be something I look at later when I hopefully have more $$ :). It looks like Davis is rather popular so I'll probably go with that. I'm a total techie and love the "online" and "smartphone" stuff, but when I study I get distracted easily so I try to leave the Internet and my phone behind so I think I am also going to invest in a hard copy drug guide as well.

Thank you for all the advice!!

shortnorthstudent - I do believe we are in the same school... you should be in 3rd quarter now, correct? I have my first on-site clinical day... eek! :)How do students make it work to hold down jobs with the campus based program? I'm doing alright this quarter but I'm pretty positive I am going to have to switch to online. The mornings are the most critical time for me to be at work and I just don't think it will be feasible to work at least 32/hrs a week without losing my mind with the campus based program unfortunately. I have been keeping my eyes and ears open for a decent paying part-time job but I haven't had any luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment