school suplies for first year nursing students

1. As a first year nursing student what supplies shuold I be exspected to buy?

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2. 

   About bob007cat

   Joined: Jul '03; Posts: 77
   student

   20 Comments

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3. 
   Aug 3, '03

   as a second (and final) year nursing student, i will see if i can help you. are you meaning just like pens, notebooks etc? or do you mean supplies for clinicals and everything? as far as juts for class, what i did was purchase a three ring binder for every class that way i made sure i had plenty of room to add my weekly addition of powerpoint printouts. really, other than that, my favorite style of pens and pencils was about the only school supplies i purchased. one other thing you might want to look for and consider, my wife gave me a clipboard that has a whole slew of medical junk i.e. normal levels for pH, Na, etc, medical abbreviations, vital sign normal ranges, glasgow coma scale, just a bunch of stuff that when you get into clinicals is nice to have for those "duh- i knew that moments".
4. 
   Aug 3, '03

   TONS of highlite pens (I don't have time to take many notes in class if I expect to try and keep up!) and TONS of Index cards (to make flash cards)
   
   If you are asking for advice on clinical supplies - ask your school before you purchase anything! Everything we needed for clinicals - including stethoscope, blood pressure cuff and all supplies were included in our course fee - Our uniforms had to be purchased thru the school so as to gaurantee it was identical to the rest - the only thing we bought ourselves where we wanted was our shoes and they had to meet specs -
   
   The only things I can really think of you might want to buy as far as supplies for for clinicals would be a small tube of hand cream and a small tube of alcohol gel hand wash (and refill it at the facility you are doing clinicals at!) - There will probably be other small items I can't think of which the scool will inform you of as far as needs for clinicals
5. 
   Aug 3, '03

   I read about this product- it looks very interesting:
   
   All in one clipboard/calculator, it is two-sided, and it has:
   
   ABG Norms
   
   Acid Base balance formulas
   
   Adult Electrolytes
   
   Centegrade/ Fahrenheit thermometer
   
   Common Abbreviations
   
   Cranial Nerves
   
   Edema
   
   Hemodynamic Values
   
   Level of Consciousness
   
   Measurement Conversions
   
   Military Time clock
   
   Pupil Gauge
   
   Reflexes
   
   Ruler
   
   Therapeutic Drug Guide
   
   Vital signs ranges
   
   and an optional calculator
   
   Now, I am not sure how much of this is needed or just overkill...but it was given numerous stars.
   
   Here is a link:
   
   http://www.nursesstationcatalog.com/...html?t_q=CG605
6. 
   Aug 3, '03

   I have that clipboard! I bought it at the bookstore while I was in nursing school, and I use it faithfully at work now. Lots of handy info for the "faint of memory"! LOL!
   Julie
7. 
   Aug 3, '03

   I bought that same kind of clipboard. Very useful. I also bought lots of highlighter pens, pencils, inkpens, index cards, stethoscope, penlight, a nurse's clinical pocket guide called RNotes. It has a lot of valuable info and is small enough to carry in your pocket, you can even write in it with ink and wipe off w/alcohol pad (it was worth every cent that I paid for it), I think it was around $20. I also bought a comfy pair of white shoes for clinicals, some support hose/socks, that's all I can think of right now. Good luck!
8. 
   Aug 3, '03

   Ahhh Yes... you all bring back the fond memories of the ol' school shopping days... I think I was the school stores best customer, always was there checkin it out, not tomention Walmart.. Where I still live half the time even after all those years.
   GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU!!!!!
9. 
   Aug 3, '03

   I recommend one large binder with dividers..instead of several small ones. I have found that to be easier. Also at the end of the semester I "Retire" that binder...and save ALL my notes to look back at later when i need them and just mark the semester and the year on the side.
10. 
    Aug 4, '03

    I also bought a student planner for my homework assignments and also to keep track of where i was going and when
11. 
    Aug 4, '03

    Originally posted by dreamon
    I read about this product- it looks very interesting:
    
    All in one clipboard/calculator, it is two-sided

    Thanks for the link! I was thinking about getting a clipboard like that. That one looks really nice.
    Thanks again!
12. 
    Aug 4, '03

    I like that clipboard -- I think that I'll be making a trip to the store soon.
    
    I love this site!!!
13. 
    Aug 4, '03

    I agree with NurseStacy above. I too save all of my class notes. I still have all of my notes for my prereqs. I find that many of the materials that come in handouts come in handy later on. The only difference is that I have a separate binder for every class. We have to buy our syllabi and they are often long and include powerpoint handouts. I just 3-hole punch those suckers, slap them in a binder, and they stay intact for the whole semester. If I don't do this, the paper cover of the booklet is in tatters after 2 weeks.
14. 
    Aug 4, '03

    If your instructor is anything like mine, and you have to copy the notes for the entire semester out of the library, start stockpiling dimes for the copy machine.

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