Do you keep all of your textbooks? To rent or not to rent?

[mangopeach]

Hello All, I will be starting nursing classes in January. This book list they gave us is no joke. Over $800 worth of books! - Plus uniforms and supplies. Haven't even factored in tuition yet. I'm trying to cut costs if possible. While doing pre-reqs I always went with what was most cost effective for me so I rented when possible or used the online version of the book. If I bought the book, I always sold it when the semester ended. I was thinking that might not be the best thing for nursing classes so maybe renting is not such a good idea anymore? What do you guys do?

[CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

You will probably NOT need to keep most of your books, unless they pertain to an area of nursing that highly interests you. By this, I mean that if you're drawn to OB, you might keep your OB text.

Otherwise, maybe just hang on to your med/surg book, plus a drug guide.

Sell the rest after you're finished with the class.

[Taurus12788]

I always rent because it is cheaper

[Trilldayz,RN BSN]

RENT!!! that's all I do! I either rent or search my school's Inter loan library program and get all the books for FREE!!!

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

I'm keeping the Davis drug guide, which I actually never use, and I'm selling the rest of it back.

[CrazierThanYou]

I'm just finishing up my fundamentals class. We have been told to keep our fund books because there will be readings from it in the future.

[CrunchyMama, ASN, RN]

I definitely keep. You never know when they'll come in handy during future semesters. Plus...I'll want them to study from before taking the NCLEX.

[Nurse Kyles, BSN, RN]

In my program we use the same text books throughout our entire education. First semester I had to buy a whole bunch of books. This semester I had to buy three. Next semester I will only have to buy one. I use mine all the time, and teachers refer to the previous texts all the time. I would suggest buying them. Maybe you could sell them after you pass the NCLEX.

[pitaya]

Talk to past students and get their recommendation. There are some books I wish I had never bought, particularly the code of ethics and a standards of practice guide which I never looked at once. I paid about $80 for a bundle of 3 useless books new. When I tried to sell them 3 months later, I hardly got any money back.

Buy used. half.com. Older editions are usually fine.

[CrazierThanYou]

Next semester I have med-surg and we of course have a book for that but we also have a book on contemporary nursing. I am strongly considering buying the older version because I suspect it might be one of those books that never gets used.

That was off topic but the post about older editions prompted it!

[AOx1]

I would ask your instructors which books you will use (if any) in future classes. I would buy everything online that you can (often older editions or international editions are just fine and significantly cheaper) or rent them. Information changes so quickly in nursing, you could always buy your own copy of any book you can't live without upon graduating.

I also encourage my students to share certain books (ex- NCLEX books) for several reasons- they can use them during study groups and get the benefit of multiple books without paying for each one individually.

[suga_junkie, BSN, RN]

I have done 3 semesters of nursing and each semester the booklist has added up to about $600 We don't have the option of renting books here. I have got some books much cheaper on eBay though! I am planning on selling some subject-specific books that I won't need anymore. I will keep my big fundamental books as I will likely use them in the future. The problem is that the publishers release new editions every year so the books lose their value as people want the latest editions.