A good NURSING drug guide?

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Okay, I was waiting until I passed all my dose calc / medication tests before I bought a drug guide. The bookstore at school does not have the newly released one, so I will be going elsewhere to buy mine now that I really need it.

I see that Lippencott's put out a new nurses drug guide in July 2002 stating it is the 2003 version. Davis Drug Guide has their 2002 also out in July. They cost about the same.

WHICH DO YOU NURSES RECOMMEND, and do you know the differences? I will be needing to start my med passes next Monday, so really need input before I go and one.

THANKS! :D

Specializes in cardiac ICU.

I like the PDR Nurse's Drug Handbook. Very easy on the eyes and very thorough.

Specializes in cardiac ICU.

I like the PDR Nurse's Drug Handbook. Very easy on the eyes and very thorough.

I am also in the market for a new drug book, as I can't stand the Nurse's PDR. After looking at many other brands, it is the most complete. However, I can't stand the see-thru thin paper and size 2 font they use. Also, they list 300 side effects (sometimes a whole page) and it is difficult to decipher which are the most pertinent. I kind of liked Springhouse. Let us know which one you decided on!

Kristy

My Pharm instructor always said to go to the bookstore and lay all the books out. Pick a few random drugs and look them up in each book. Then choose the one that best describes what you need. Many are written to be people friendly, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you have to look up 10 words to figure out what it really does, it's prob not the right book for you. Good luck.

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

Your Pharm instructor had a very good idea.

For myself, I use the Nursing 2003 (changes every year) drug handbook. Though their magazine is to nursing as Disney World is to the planet earth, their drug handbook is the one I wind up with year after year. I do not believe it is available for PDAs, though. I began suggesting this to them nearly 10 years ago, but never get a reply.

I try to stay away from the Springhouse publications -- not the best reputation when it comes to credibility -- always kind of dumbed down. Sorry to any book reps listening.

I guess I did what your pharm instructor said to do, except I hadn't read the thread yet! I pulled out 3 of them and opened them up to a random drug I hadn't heard of before. Davis did not have it listed, but Mosby's and Lippencotts did. Then I just kind of read through them and chose Lippencotts.

I can still use my old 1999 Davis guide as a back up!

I can't remember if I looked at Lippincott's or not. Guess I'll have to make a trip to Border's and put one on my Christmas list!! Thanks for the reply!

I haven't actually used it yet though! I will let you know how it REALLY is once actually use it. I just figured that I know another student had Mosby's so the bigger the mix the more chance of one of us in our group having the drug in the book.

I can't recommend it yet because I haven't needed to look anything up in it!

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