Books: new or used?

Published

Just wondering how many of you bought all new books? Saw an ad on craigslist big savings but I'm just not sure...do they change a lot from year to year?

Also how many of you are prepping now by reading text books and such? Just want to be at my best when I start. This will be a total career change for me and I'm so nervous.

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I usually rent my books but I think I'm buying used for nursing!! I would wait and see what books/editions your school uses then I'd buy them used. They work just as good & cheaper. Try amazon!! Some schools like to change book editions to collect money some are not that far off but u'll be lost on pages in class. They won't be the same.

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Specializes in psych/dementia.

I always buy new, or "almost new" on Amazon at times. I don't want any highlighting in the book. That's my big issue.

And yes, I am pre-reading all of my textbooks (not the books for lab though). I've read 2.5 out of 6. Two of the ones I have left I am only going to read what is on the syllabus and the other one I have left is less than 400 pages so I'll read it all.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
I always buy new, or "almost new" on Amazon at times. I don't want any highlighting in the book. That's my big issue.

This! I don't want to be confused by someone else's handwritten notes and/or highlights. My thing is- how do I know if their information is correct? Regardless of buying new and/or like new, I still saved over $200+ by not going to the bookstore.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day:

While I plan to check out amazon.com and abebooks.com for the fall semester, the used books I've purchased our the community college I'm going to do not have hand written, highlights, etc. on the page. Aside from wear and tear, the book internals are very close to new.

Thank you.

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USED ALL THE WAY. I've saved hundreds of dollars. I buy most of my texts off ebay for less than half the "new" price. The only highlighting I've had was incredibly minor in only one book.

It makes me so frustrated when you need an access code though. It basically means you have to go new.

It IS important to have the proper edition though.

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Specializes in Hopefully NICU.

We have to get all our books from the bookstore because we have to have the access code. It's a giant waste of money!! Miss State was awful about access codes because we never actually used them for anything

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Specializes in ED, Telemetry,Hospice, ICU, Supervisor.

1.Med Surge Book is a must buy.

2. Meidcation handbook is useless your at one of those hospitals that think smart phones are the tool of the devil. Recommend getting the Free Skyscape App on your phone. It is much more efficient.

3. Pharmacology Text book is must buy. You will be flipping to the index portion a lot.

4. Psych book is useless. 90% of it all boils down to Suicide Prevention, Setting Boundaries, Therapeutic Communication. You can google those for free. Meds are covered in your pharm text book.

5. Peds/ LD usless. Dont bother buying an extra $350 in books when the important stuff is covered in your Med-Surge books. Remember to massage that fundus.

6. Never Ever buy the ACLS book. Your library can loan you that for free. Same goes for reading strips, all you need is an hour and a teacher and you too can learn wave forms and interventions.

This is how I got through RN school on a budget. The same goes for most of my friends. Ask the people graduating for their Uniform/Books.

P.S Use the internet. I used Wikipedia and google. Say what you will about the internet, it is still a great resource that gets to the point. As for reference ranges, every book differs slightly, NCLEX will always use a really out of whack number to represent bad lab reading.

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