Ebooks in Nursing School?

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Hello all! Nursing school starts in a month and the school hasn't sent out acceptance letters yet, but I'm trying to be hopeful and prepare just in case--that's a lot of money to spend if you haven't budgeted for it ahead of time!

Has anyone used ebooks instead of regular hard-copy textbooks in nursing school? This wasn't an option when I was in college the first time, so I don't know anyone personally who has used them in lieu of regular books. I have a kindle, but I worry about it being more difficult to navigate in class or when studying, and I don't know if I would prefer to have a book that I can quickly flip through or not. I'm attracted to the fact that ebooks are cheaper though! I love my kindle, but I know page numbers will show up differently on my small screen as opposed to a large textbook, etc. Any suggestions or comments about your experience? Any advice is appreciated!

Specializes in NICU.

Last semester they rolled out the e-book bundle, we were the first class that they pushed this on. We were required to buy a bundle that included our 3 core books (Fundamentals Potter&Perry, Assessment Jarvis and Med Surg) and I think it was around $300. Everyone in my class HATES them and we have gone to faculty about it because it just doesn't work. No one likes straining their eyes for ours on a screen, and the e-books don't have an index...there is a search option in the program but it never finds what you're looking for. Anyway, for the upcoming semester they have proposed another e-book bundle that is required and my entire class is boycotting it and buying the books off amazon (yeah, the bookstore won't be stocking hard copies anymore).

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vintageandrea: What happened to you is my biggest concern right now. I feel that eBooks are still in their infancy. I've had too many bad experiences with them during my college career. I search for something and it comes up with my query in "Table of Contents." I'm like..."That was so helpful!" :eek:

Has anyone here used VitalSource Bookshelf or PageBurst?

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Specializes in NICU.

That's what I use for my books...pageburst. Don't like it.

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I use them and love them. I bought old copies of the books just in case, but honestly, I've very rarely used them. With the ebooks, you can get them online or on a tablet. I have the three heaviest weight and heaviest used books on an iPad, and it's searchable, and it's even sometimes nice seeing the material presented on a smaller page. I don't know how tech savvy you are, but my grades from my first semester were fine, and my bookbag was my purse, and I was the envy of many in the class.

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As far as E-books go, my school gives the hardcopy and pageburst version and this semester I am going to try pageburst on bookshelf for the first time. I have been scrolling through it, and the only thing I am not really impressed about is the formatting. It has weird outlines around titles and just an overall "blocky" appearance that doesn't really flow... Also, the transitions are not like a nice page flip (like kindles when you read a book) when you are scrolling through, it's just like back or forth scrolling, and there is a new section for every main title... ANNOYING!

For my book, the search bar is useful, and I like how it shows you where, chapter wise, that search is located, then you just click the one that sounds good and it brings up that page. It doesn't have an index, but I suppose the search bar would do for the most part.

By the way, I have an ipad, if anyone is comparing devices with apps; I don't know if it would be the same for an android or something.

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I was one of the only students who purchased the e-book option, which was $400 less then buying the book bundle. I love ebooks! I am one of the few that develop eye fatigue when I read from a textbook from the glare of the page. So reading from a screen is much better for my eyes. I also love the search function which helps writing papers and studying. I also have downloaded it on my iphone and can read chapters from their app. i love it but I'm more tech savay then most. From what I've heard ebooks are going to be the norm since publishing books is more expense. Our school may not offer books in the next few years. The publisher has worked on improving the ebook environment but there still are drawbacks. Hope this helps. Have a happy new year all!

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Does anyone still have the links to the original post?

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

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