Helpful Books? - Career Change

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Specializes in med-surg.

hi, my name is jen, i'm new to the forum. i am 29, live in nh and want to go back to school for nursing. i have a bs in criminal justice (thought i wanted to be in federal law enforcement, found out i didn't like it after all). anyway, i'm hoping to get into a direct-entry masters program in nh that is for prospective students who have a bachelor's degree in a non-nursing field. before i make the move, i want to do some reading on the field of nursing. i have come across some books online at amazon and am wondering if anyone else has read them:

  • stressed out about nursing school!: an insider's guide to success by stephanie thibeault
  • student nurse handbook: difficult concepts made easy by b. gayle twiname, sandra m. boyd
  • notes on nursing: what it is and what it is not by florence nightingale
  • from novice to expert: excellence and power in clinical nursing practice by patricia benner
  • nursing against the odds: how health care cost cutting, media stereotypes, and medical hubris undermine nurses and patient care (the culture and politics of health care work) by suzanne gordon

thanks everyone~

:wink2:

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Specializes in Operating Room.

Hi Wondergirl. Welcome to AllNurses.com.

I haven't read any of these, but I'm sure someone will come along that can help you.

Good luck if you decide to go to nursing school.

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Specializes in Medical.

Welcome to allnurses :) What kind of information are you after?

Most of the titles you listed sound good for getting an idea of what nursing school is like (I haven't read them).

The lived experience

On a more personal note, authors like Echo Heron and Tilda Shalof will give you a picture of what real-life nursing's like. Every nurse I know has related to Echo's writing.

Nursing - a sociological perspective

"Life support: three nurses on the front lines" by Suzanne Gordon examines the US health care system, framed by the experiences of three nurses who work in different arenas. Daniel Chambliss' excellent text "Beyond caring" discusses how being a nurse affects perception and priorities, and he discusses how the ethical dimensions of cases get lost in clinical practice.

Nursing and ethics

"Caring" by Helga Kuhse uses the idea of 'nursing ethics of care' (an ethical theory which some nurses feels best deals with the ethical issues of nursing) as a launching pad for discussing ethics, nursing, and the role of gender. I'm really not doing it justice - my copy's studded with flags!

John Hardwog's "Is there a duty to die?" is a fascinating look at the state of health care, but like Daniel Callahan's work, is probably a little too far from what you're interested in.

I hope this helps :)

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hi wondergirl!!!

welcome to allnurses and congrats on making "the change!" :balloons:

so far i've read two books on changing careers..

one was majoring in nursing : from prerequisites to postgraduate study and beyond by [color=#003399]janet r. katz

the other was how to survive and maybe even love nursing school!: a guide for students by students by [color=#003399]kelli s. dunham

they were both pretty good..i remember the second one a bit more vividly than the first though..:imbar

hope that helps!

tanya

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Specializes in Operating Room.
the other was how to survive and maybe even love nursing school!: a guide for students by students by [color=#003399]kelli s. dunham

i've seen this book online and wondered if it was any good.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

I will look into getting at least one book. Thanks

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