Have you kept your nursing books once finished with school?

[PopeJane3rd]

How many of you kept your nursing books and refer back to them once you have become a RN? Or did you sell them back?

[StrwbryblndRN]

I started to keep mine but found that it never could replace or live up to getting info on the job or from a seasoned nurse. Also it is more helpful for me to get answers here because it can filter the obvious info and get down to the nitty gritty and give a little extra here or there you would not expect.

It also helped that I just do not have the space in my house for it.

[NeoNurseTX, RN]

I kept a few...which I never use but let others borrow.

[jaspinder.bhullar]

i think u learn more during your work experience than from books....

but u need to refer them also...

[Tait, MSN, RN]

I donated all of mine to a new nursing student.

Tait

[NurseCard, ADN]

I still have mine and they are sitting in my house taking up space. That's all.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I've kept mine over the years and only use a few of them. I recommend only keeping those that are directly appliable to the jobs you anticipate having withing the next 2 or 3 years.

After a few years, you want new, updated information that can best be obtained from a library -- not from books that out of date sitting in a box in your basement.

Keep a few of the most relevant ones ... sell the rest and use the money wisely.

[kythe, LPN]

Yes, and I have more than an entire shelf on my bookshelf devoted to nursing related materials. I am an LPN returning to school this year, so I still need them.

I found myself leaning heavily on my textbooks for a few months after I graduated, especially my lab manual, pharmacology, health assessments, and med-surg textbooks. Over time I became more confident in my skills and I also found other sources of information.

After I graduate as RN, I will likely donate several of them. They will be too dated for new nursing students use as their primary textbooks, and used books stores tend to not accept old textbooks. I've seen old nursing and other health related textbooks in thrift stores that are very cheap for anyone with an interest that doesn't mind not having a latest edition.

[chicookie, BSN, RN]

I kept mine. now I am in a BSN program and I use them quite regularly as my BSN program uses the same books, different edition.

[deleern]

I kept mine, I use them if I get a Patient with something out of the ordinary for LTC Just recently Cirrhosis of the liver, and Liver cancer. But I love books, I also do internet research. I did sell most of them. just kept the best.

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

I gave most of mine to my teachers, and told them to give them to a student who was needed them. I kept the pharma and the MedSurg book, but since I don't have them at work (and they won't fit in the locker), they sit here and collect dust. When I finish the RN, I'll give them back to the school as well -- I tend to draw and write notes all in my books, so selling them isn't an option.

[Medic09, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

I kept *most* of them. Some of the nursing theory and management texts, and drug calculations, and 'how to think' - I have no use for. The stuff that puts the BS in the BSN, for the most part. The science and clinically oriented texts I've kept, and I find that from time to time I use them to look things up.