We're in the process of minimizing our life at the house of PeepnBiscuits. In the basement, in a couple of boxes are all the books I used for LPN school, in another box are all the learning modules, in big three ring binders. In another box are a few big three ring binders with all my RN stuff, and upstairs in our computer room, a whole shelf and a half is devoted to my RN textbooks.
I don't know if it was recalling the exorbitant prices I paid for these books that has kept me from tossing them, or all the wasted paper or what. Admittedly there are a few books I still use- my small Davis' guide for drugs comes in handy now and then...my Med Surg book sits in my locker at work- it was quite helpful back when I first started on this floor. I still have my peds book because I have kids and like to look stuff up now and then, and my OB text...well, I'll be an OB nurse in a matter of days...
But really? What good are these books to me REALLY? I'm getting rid of all my notes and LPN books- seriously they're no good, they're over 6 years old. The RN textbooks though...I mean why do I need my fundamentals book? Our facility has it's own guidelines on how to put in NG tubes and how to flush IV's and how to ambulate people. Psych? No need. Peds...well, I still have kids...OB...is it really going to help me?
So do any of you out there still have your books? Or was it like 1) go to pinning 2) pass NCLEX 3) sell textbooks for 25% of what I paid for them.
I ended up keeping some, but then a nurse I worked with was taking donation for a nursing school in india where people were poor. I was glad to give them to a good cause.
Specializes in Orthopedic, LTC, STR, Med-Surg, Tele.
I still have a couple on my shelf that I look at from time to time - mainly my med-surg, pharmacology, lab values reference, and Fluids and Electrolytes Made Incredibly Easy! books. Everything else got the heave-ho. Oddly enough, as much as I hated our NANDA Diagnosis book in school, I wish I had kept it for a reference when I float!
I kept mine and then 3 years later when I went to give them to a friend starting nursing school it turned out they were all old editions! I did find a nursing dictionary/textbook in a junkyard sale at the local school from the 1940's which I bought for a few dollars, it was fantastic! Really really old stuff that we just don't do anymore, things were so different! For CPR it was to raise the arms up and down vigorously. Made me wonder if my textbooks would ever be like that one day!
I sold them all as soon as school ended. Books become outdated fast and in the age if the internet, if I need to look something up I rarely use a book. I used half.com to sell what I could, the rest I gave back to my advisor to pass on if anyone needed them.
I Love Craigslist: I took my NCLEX, drove home like a madman, put all books on craigslist. They outdate so fast. If needed, I will repurchase an outdated version for 0.01.
I donated mine to a program that wanted textbooks for nursing programs in another country. They could not previously afford textbooks, so I felt that they went to a worthy cause. Also, in many areas, the information in textbooks can become quickly outdated. Pharmacology comes to mind.
I pitched all of mine except for a few I could get money for on Chegg.com and my med-surg book which I keep at my desk at work. I threw all my careplans away shortly after I graduated. We were moving and there was no way I was packing those suckers up and bringing them to the new house!
I kept mine and have loaned them out to other people taking classes--there are just a few that I refer to all the time, and I constantly buy more references ( Introduction to Clinical Neurology by Gelb is good! and a short book). There are just a few I have given away.
Even though I use the internet for most of my searches, I will probably keep my med/surg and fundamentals books at least until I've gained a year or so experience working as an RN. After that, they'll become part of the ashes in our fire pit.
A few I've kept: my Med-Surg, Psych, Pharmacology, and Patho. Some others I gave away. A few(NURSING DIAGNOSIS,nursing theory, leadership) I've found are superbly engineered for starting a fire with. Although, with the amount of crap in the diagnosis book it's best to stand upwind from the fire.
I pitched all of mine except for a few I could get money for on Chegg.com and my med-surg book which I keep at my desk at work. I threw all my careplans away shortly after I graduated. We were moving and there was no way I was packing those suckers up and bringing them to the new house!
I found that many care plans are quite useful for target practice.
MomRN0913
1,131 Posts
I ended up keeping some, but then a nurse I worked with was taking donation for a nursing school in india where people were poor. I was glad to give them to a good cause.