FNP Study Aids, recommendations and reviews wanted

allnurses Guide · Feb 14, 2014

The the Fitzgerald FNP board review book is worth having from the start.

The Buttaro Primary Care text is also well worth it.

There is also an NP Notes pocket guide that some of my colleagues liked in school.

Julia77 · Feb 14, 2014

Hi Boston FNP,

Thanks for your response!

Is it important to get the most recent editions? Do you recommend paper editions or electronic? Is there some place to buy these books used? Do you recommend them to support coursework or more to support clinical functioning?

Thank you so much,

:)

allnurses Guide · Feb 14, 2014

Hi Boston FNP Thanks for your response! Is it important to get the most recent editions? Do you recommend paper editions or electronic? Is there some place to buy these books used? Do you recommend them to support coursework or more to support clinical functioning? Thank you so much, :)[/quote']
I think that newer editions include updates but those updates are still 6mo or more old by the time they are published, so it's not a huge deal. There are lots of used sites to get things from. You can get Amazon prime free as a student and it's both wonderful and dangerous.
Get the paper editions! They are easier to study from.
The Fitzgerald book is great for coursework review and for test prep and boards prep.
The primary care text is good for school, papers, and clinical support once you are in practice.m
As far as clinical support, UpToDate has a student rate and it is well worth it as a mobile reference both for pharmacology and for disease process and treatment.

Julia77 · Feb 15, 2014

Thanks, Boston NP!

I'm putting my list together. I do LOVE UpToDate.com and use it all the time for my courses, although one np teacher remarked that UpToDate.com was anything but uptodate and prohibited us from using it as a reference.

With RN school I had a set of flashcards that I kept in my purse to use while waiting in line at the bank, or sitting at the park while the children played. I also had some audio review CD's I used in the car. I am planning to start a new job about an hour away, so I am interested in audio content to either download from podcasts and listen to in the car during my commute, or audio CD's to review material. I had a set of flashcards for my ipod as well, that came with a study guide.

I purchased material from ebay -- the Vonfrolio CCRN review CD and DVD materials, which I initially thought was legit, used, but I in retrospect was probably pirated and certainly non functional. I guess there is a greater element of risk in purchasing used DVD's and CD's.

Happy Valentines!

J

Cardiac-RN · Feb 17, 2014

I bought Fitzgerald's online review during the last semester, and have really enjoyed using it so far for school exam prep and board prep. It came along with a review book that they mailed to the house and access to other online resources which have been great. I also have Leik's 'FNP Intensive Review' which is very streamlined and right to to the point, and comes with lots of Q&A with rationale in the back of the book. Very glad that I have both.

Cardiac-RN

heathermarie7 · Feb 24, 2014

I used Fitzgeralds review book for practice questions for specific sections during school, then also revisited it once I was taking my boards. I though it was very helpful because it gets you used to answering the questions and thinking about the question set up. I personally like the electronic versions of things, because you can download the Kindle app on your iPhone, ipad, whatever, and not have to actually carry the book with you. You can also highlight the electronic versions, and search within the book. It was very helpful with downtime during clinicals.