what are the best books or study aids?

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Can any students or former students recommend study aids or good books that can help other students to grasp concepts? What are some of the ones you found most helpful?

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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

It depends on the class. Which class are you having trouble with?

I personally have not had to buy any outside books, etc. But I guess it depends on the text your school requires and your grasp of the subject.

I use my PDA more than anything.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

old rn here. . .i have recently gotten copies of these two books: pathophysiology: a 2-in-1 reference for nurses and signs & symptoms: a 2-in-1 reference for nurses. this has been very helpful in finding information about diseases and their treatment. a good nursing care plan book or nursing diagnosis book is also a good resource for finding nursing interventions. the ackely and ladwig nursing diagnosis book is the biggest seller. however, the gulanick and myers care plan book is much easier to read. both have very good qualities to them and most of the major information can be accessed on the internet for free at these two websites:

as far as refreshing my mind about nursing principles and interventions: saunders comprehensive review for the nclex-rn examination, 3rd edition, by linda anne silvestri is a book i refer to a lot. it lists things in nice concise numbered lists. i also have extensive weblinks. here is the list that i think has the best group of helpful general information links for nursing students. please book mark them as you will find them extremely useful:

for sites aimed more at the consumer (easier to read and understand!):

medline plus (use the search box) http://www.medlineplus.gov/

healthfinder (use the search box) http://www.healthfinder.gov/

medicine net diseases & conditions a to z index http://www.medicinenet.com/diseases_and_conditions/article.htm

medicine net symptoms & signs a to z index http://www.medicinenet.com/symptoms_and_signs/article.htm

medicine net procedures & tests a to z index http://www.medicinenet.com/procedures_and_tests/article.htm

health a to z - diseases and conditions page (use the search box) http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requesturi=/healthatoz/atoz/dc/index.jsp

aetna intelihealth (use the search box) http://www.intelihealth.com/ih/ihtih/wsihw000/408/408.html

peacehealth consumer information (use the search box) http://www.peacehealth.org/

emedicinehealth first aid and consumer health information list of topics from a to z http://www.emedicinehealth.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=60185

encyclopedia of surgery http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/index.html

lab tests online http://www.labtestsonline.org/

for sites aimed more at healthcare personnel:

merck manual of diagnosis and therapy (use search box) http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/sections.jsp

family practice notebook (use search box) http://www.fpnotebook.com/index.htm

medicine net diseases & conditions a to z index http://www.medicinenet.com/diseases_and_conditions/article.htm

cleveland clinic disease management project (only major diseases)http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/diseasemanagement/medicineindex.htm

emedicine http://www.emedicine.com/ (you may have to register to view articles, but registration is free)

web md index list of tests http://www.webmd.com/a_to_z_guide/medical_tests.htm

web md index list of medical conditions http://www.webmd.com/a_to_z_guide/health_topics.htm

web md index list of symptoms http://www.webmd.com/a_to_z_guide/health_symptoms.htm

surgical tutor.org (links are at left and top of page) http://www.surgical-tutor.org.uk/default-home.htm?core/trauma/shock.htm~right

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Lol, I have an entire file of "Daytonite sites"!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Tele.

If you want something to just condense and help you study for tests. There is a book for fundamentals which I loved. It has nothing but NCLEX style questions (very helpful for your first tests) :Fundamentals Success: A Course Review Applying Critical Thinking to Test Taking , ISBN-13: 978-0803610569 .

Then in the following semesters there are series that can help you study, and these also have NCLEX style questions. I will give you an example of one of each of the series:

the first one is by Prenhall, Reviews and Rationales : Maternal-Newborn Nursing: Reviews & Rationales ,ISBN-13: 978-0130304568

the other on is the Straight A series by Lippincot : Straight A's in Maternal-Neonatal Nursing, ISBN-13: 978-1582552859

All of these books you can find on Amazon used and they helped me tremendous to study for my tests.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Test Success: Techniques for Beginning Nursing Students by Nugent and Vitale

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Can any students or former students recommend study aids or good books that can help other students to grasp concepts? What are some of the ones you found most helpful?

A good NCLEX book.

I love my Saunders I use it for every unit we do, it has a break down follows my texts nearly exact and gives test questions at the end with rationales and test taking strategies for each subject.

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Well, I use the Med surg reviews and rationales and I love it. Also, the Made easy series are also good.

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Well, I use the Med surg reviews and rationales and I love it. Also, the Made easy series are also good.

There is also another series of books made by the people who also make the Made Easy series called Straight A's. I have seen it recommended on this site many times. I also am looking for study aids and can't decide between the Made Easy or Straight A's. I have Fundamentals Success which I bought off Amazon and the reviews said this was a must have book for new nursing students as it helps you "think" like a nurse.

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