Trying to get a good start...

Hey all! So I'm graduating nursing school this month (actually my final is tomorrow - Yay!!) and I was offered a position on the Ortho/Neuro unit at my hospital. I decided to take it even though I'm totally freaking out about it now. Don't get me wrong, I know it's going to be a great experience, but everyone keeps telling me all these horror stories and about how heavy the unit it and how I'm going to hate it. It's really discouraging! I'm also a tech on a mother/baby floor right now so you can imagine how different the work is going to be and how totally naive I am going to be going up to a floor like ortho/neuro.
So here's where the help comes in...
1) How do I respond to all these negative comments? I want to tell people to just shut up sometimes, but I'm looking for something a little more diplomatic
2) Does anyone have any suggestions for books or anything that I can read up on to better prepare me to work a unit like this? In nursing school we barely talked about ortho/neuro and it was during our first year, so I really don't remember much, and I want to have a decent knowledge base before I get up on the floor in August.
3) Are there any professional organizations for ortho/neuro nurses that would be beneficial for a new grad to join to get extra information about the profession?
4) I know narcs are obviously a HUGE portion of the meds that are passed, but what are other common meds that are important to know well on a ortho/neuro floor?
I want to be as prepared as possible before I go into my orientation. I know this floor is going to be a challenge, and it's going to be tough, and I'm okay with that, but I figured anything extra I could do to help me from needing to look stuff up during my shift, and to try to get a good grasp on concepts could only help me in the end.

Thank you for all of your help. I truly appreciate any comments/info you can give me!