Taber's Medical Dictionary

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You are reading page 2 of Taber's Medical Dictionary

elby812

123 Posts

Specializes in Cardiac.

I just picked up my books today and that was one of them (Tabers). A cd comes along with it.... I haven't used it yet but my mom said that was the one she used when she went to nursing school like 25 yrs ago. She said it will come in handy...

mtacare

18 Posts

I dont have Taber's but i like my Mosby's and i also have my Mayo clinic these 2 CDROMs really helped a lot to me since the start of my Nursing course and up to now. But at the start of this semester (June) i would like to own 1 that is pocket size, handy one and can be taken with me anywhere i go.

Daytonite, BSN, RN

1 Article; 14,603 Posts

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

i used tabor's when i was in nursing school back in 1973. i needed it by my side to look up medical terms as i was reading my nursing textbooks. i've since replaced it with a more current version. i also have the mosby's dictionary for the health sciences. don't get a cheap pocket medical dictionary. it will just be a waste of money.

since i'm an experienced rn let me tell you about some of the features in tabor's that some of the nursing students may not have noticed. tabor's specifically is geared to nurses. many of the listings for diseases will give you the symptoms, etiology, treatment, prognosis, nursing implications and refer you to the back appendix for nursing diagnosis information. it also has pictures. there is a section that contains a nursing assessment tool. this kind of information will come in handy for nursing school. my current copy which is older because it was published in 1997 still has appendices just loaded with all kinds of useful information. i don't know if the pda versions have all that in them. those of you with the electronic versions will have to speak to it. the appendices of my copy has a section on anatomy, normal lab reference values, medical terminology, units of measurement, a listing of nursing organizations in the u.s. and canada, a rundown of the major theories of nursing and a whole section on nursing diagnoses, gordon's functional health patterns and doenges and moorhouse's diagnostic divisions--to name a few.

tabor's is smaller and more compact than mosby's. the pages are on thinner paper. you could break your foot if you accidentally dropped the mosby's book on it. also, the mosby's book doesn't include all the nursing stuff.

TemperStripe

154 Posts

Specializes in ICU.

That is awesome information. Thank you!

So far I am leaning towards eventually buying the Tabors book, which comes with a year of the online subscription. I just think it would be a really good reference to have. I talked a friend of mine who is a physician and he said he barely cracked his medical dictionary open during med school, but I am not totally convinced that this would be the case for me. What I might do is get the one month free trial of the online service, and if I find myself using it all the time, I'll pop for the book and whatnot.

Thank you for the great information...I hope to keep reading your opinions!

Lacyanne64

32 Posts

Specializes in LTC.

I got my Taber's at the beginning of school in September and I can't tell you how many times I've used it...it's a great resource, it's easy to use and understand and I also use the online subscription when I'm at the computer...but having the actual book is working very well for me... :nurse:

I bought Taber's lbecause it was suggested by the program. I do use it, but to be honest, if I didn't have it, I am sure I would have gotten by very easily not using anything and just searching on the Internet.

MySimplePlan

547 Posts

i just lurve my taber's! i keep it with me when i study, as i come across unfamiliar words, syndromes, and anything else i don't understand as i read.

it's more than just a dictionary, however....sometimes we nursing students have so much work to do we never flip through all the books we have. tabers has a nice section with nursing dx grouped by disease, conversion rules, a latin/greek to english list, (very helpful with terminology), outcomes, diagnoses w/ related to factors, and much much more! i love taber's.

CT Pixie, BSN, RN

3,723 Posts

I have always had a Taber's for my medical field jobs. I was recently "introduced" to Mosbys Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary by my Clinical Instructor. I have to say I wish I could incorporate both into one! I tend to find that Taber's kind of makes it a hide and seek for certain terms where Mosby's tells it straight out.

Both have sections that are invaluable that the other doesn't.

My Mosby was only $38 brand new hard cover. Of course its not a pocket one. (Actually they do have the pocket one but I noticed flipping through it that it didn't have all that the hardcover did and was only $3 dollars cheaper!)

I keep my Mosby at home and take the Taber's to school with me. I much more enjoy the Mosby due to the excellent pictures on almost every page and the pages aren't as thin and fragile as the Taber's.

If you can afford it, I'd suggest getting both.

quetepye

65 Posts

I LIVE by my Tabers on PDA..... My PDA has more than paid for itself. I can't even say that enough. It's in my pocket ALL the time. When I'm not in clinical? In my purse. Even when I'm out with my friends, it's still with me because I have all my advanced life support in there, and since I've never done it on a "real" person... well, you never know. My PDA is like my cell phone.

Daytonite, BSN, RN

1 Article; 14,603 Posts

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
I LIVE by my Tabers on PDA..... My PDA has more than paid for itself. I can't even say that enough. It's in my pocket ALL the time. When I'm not in clinical? In my purse. Even when I'm out with my friends, it's still with me because I have all my advanced life support in there, and since I've never done it on a "real" person... well, you never know. My PDA is like my cell phone.

This made me remember a medical student who pulled out a pocket notebook during a code to look up the medications he needed to order to give. Nobody said anything about it in the room at the time, but it sure was the talk of the nurse's lounge later! I also was at a code where 3 medical students got into an argument about their hand placement on the patient's chest to do the compressions. One of the nurses pushed them out of the way shouting, "Oh, for Chrxxxx Sake!" as I was coming into the room. Just something I never forgot.

allnurses Guide

JBudd, MSN

3,836 Posts

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

I've used Tabors for 30 years, in various editions. Its a good resource. I'm not as familiar with the Mosby's, but their other books have been good.

Just FYI: the Merck Manuel is availabe online, it isn't geared toward nursing but its a great resource for diseases.

http://www.merck.com/mmpe/index.html

quetepye

65 Posts

jbudd - great link! thanks for posting that.

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