Books to help first semester studies.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2012

i'd like to recommend (as i always do) a couple of resources to supplement your required texts that should always be on your desk, all available at your friendly online bookseller:

the nanda 2012-2014 nursing diagnosis manual, for getting a handle on nursing diagnosis early on

the anatomy coloring book and the physiology coloring book, no joke either of them, but excellent resources for critical concepts

laboratory and diagnostic tests with nursing implications, joyce lefever kee. says it all.

Mama_Cashew, ASN, RN · Mar 12, 2012

I actually just bought a Physiology coloring book because I am taking Advanced Human Physiology this summer (the Dean of the School of Nursing recommended taking the class, said it would help with med-surg).

I also have an anatomy coloring book! Thanks for the tips.

Nurse Connie · Mar 14, 2012

Fundamentals Success helped me tremendously in my first semester, I also used Med Surg Sucess. I didn't use them to study for NCLEX though. Good luck!

guest042302019, BSN, RN · Apr 16, 2012

There is an infinite number of books out there! You could start reading the ones the program requires you to have. Believe me, you'll have plenty of material to keep you busy. But, I have an NCLEX review book. There are several types with similar lay-outs. Also, I have a book I found at Salvation Army that has several care plans for common diseases. If you can find something like that, it could be useful.

k_ann · Apr 18, 2012

I have a few recommendations. If you're using IGGY for your med-surg I recommend getting the workbook that goes along with it. It is FULL of NCLEX style questions and I had a 10 point exam score increase when I started including this workbook in my study plan!

I also recommend a nursing diagnoses book, I was not informed that this would be helpful and spent my first 3 semesters googling EVERYTHING. When I posted a link to a nursing diagnoses book that I found on google books, my classmates laughed because they had been using it all along (thanks for the tip guys!!...not!)

Lastly, I would invest in Davis Drug guide even if you aren't required to. I just recently purchased it and am so excited because it includes so much info that the free apps like medscape and eporates don't include (nursing implications, patient and family teaching)

Hope this helps, and good luck!!!

IndyElmer · May 10, 2012

I think it truly depends on the student/program whether the supplemental books are helpful or not. In addition to the Davis Success series, there's also the Pearson (formerly Prentice Hall) Reviews & Rationales series. (I think Mary Ann Hogan is an author/co-author on all of them.)

I've heard people RAVE about the Davis Success series and I've heard others say they thought the questions were too hard/complicated and causes them unneeded anxiety. The Davis books are JUST questions and generally have more questions than the R&R books.

In contrast, the R&R books are a bullet/outline condensed review of each chapter topic -- which you may or may not find helpful -- plus 50 NCLEX style questions per chapter. I found the review really helpful for pathophys and pharm as I took both of those classes online and didn't get any lecture instruction whereas I'm not sure that it was as helpful/necessary for my in-person classes. **If you choose to check out this series, keep in mind that 20 questions per chapter are in the BOOK, but another 30 additional questions (per chapter) are on the CD. If you buy a used copy without the CD, you will only get 20 questions per chapter.

I've checked out the Memory Notebook and Memory Notecard series from Mosby too. They aren't at all like the two study guide series. They do have some useful mnemonics BUT nearly all of them can be found on mnemonic discussion threads on AllNurses. Depending on your learning style, you *might* find them useful, but I would strongly recommend checking them out in person at a bookstore. The info in the "noteBOOKs" is repeated in the "noteCARDs" with even MORE info and in color in the CARDS. If you purchase the 5(?) notecard sets that correspond to the 3 notebooks, (buying new) you spend about $7 or $8 more but get more info and get colored pictures. All in all, I didn't find them a super useful tool, but others I know swear by them. (You also can find quite a few of the images from these books online -- especially on Pinterest, just search for "nursing" pinboards, and on Tumblr, though I think they're harder to find on there.) For a sample of the pages check out this site Nursing Mnemonics: Nursing Made Easy

If you stop by the bookstore to check out the memory notecards, also check out the Davis NOTES series -- a pocket guide (spiral-bound, flip-book) series. In particular, you might find either LabNotes or RNotes useful. The usefulness depends on your particular situation, especially whether or not you're using electronic references in a smartphone (or iPod Touch). My nearest bookstore is a bit of a drive, so I had a list of resources to look at -- notebooks vs notecards, Davis vs R&R, comparing drug card sets, looking at different pocket guide series, different NCLEX study guides, and so on.

Speaking of NCLEX study guides, if money is tight, I'd consider getting the Saunders NCLEX study guide (or similar) BEFORE buying multiple other study guide books. Any NCLEX review study guide book that groups the questions by topic can be a great "all-in-one" version of buying all of the Davis or R&R guides on specific topics. Saunders is the one that I've seen recommended most often (and I liked it "well enough" when I compared it to others) so that's the one I got, though I may eventually buy another publishers version to supplement. You can use it throughout the program and for NCLEX review!

Good luck!!