Is it OK to study from older edition books (between 2010-17)?

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · May 13, 2020

What you could do is purchase the previous edition (would not go too far back) and compare the current edition (classmate's). Any pages that are different (shouldn't be too many) photocopy.

Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP · May 13, 2020

2 hours ago, porscheXN said:
2019-2020 editions are expensive. Such as Fundamentals, MedSurgical, A&P... If I buy cheap old books; will I miss so much important updated content of Nursing knowledge or is it just a little?

If you do get older editions, compare it w/ the new edition because sometimes there are major changes in books. I've had books which included new articles and I've had some books which switched and/or combined chapters and all sorts of weird stuff happening when editions change. You never know what your professor is going to ask questions on and if something is not in your older edition, you'll be scrambling around.

porscheXN · May 14, 2020

Thanks, guys, I will inspect what information they added to the last editions and also check my classmates' books. At least I can take photos/notes from them if I miss something important.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · May 14, 2020

I rented a majority of my nursing school books. It is usually cheaper than purchasing at the beginning of the semester and then selling them online at the end of the semester.

llg, PhD, RN · May 14, 2020

You might also ask your instructors before you buy/rent. The instructor should know if the newest editions contain important changes that would make a difference or not.

In fact, this might be an issue that you could address through your student association (or whatever you have). Your association could ask all instructors to state (either in class, in the syllabus, etc.) whether or not the newest edition is necessary or not. That was routine practice back in ancient times when I was in school. The faculty knew which edition it used to create the classes and tests -- and would routinely tell the students whether or not the newest edition was necessary.