NS Recommended Books Help

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Hello All!

I just got my acceptance for start in Spring 2011!!!!! Super excited! :D

I was given a list of required texts and some recommended texts. I was wondering if any of you current nursing students could help me out and let me know which of these recommended texts you think is the most important/useful to have while in school.

1.David & Neil. (2007) Medical Abbreviations: 28,000 Conveniences at the Expense of Communications and Safety

2. Nugent & Vitale. (2007) Fundamentals Success, (test taking) F.A. Davis

3. Nugent & Vitale. (2008) Test Success, F.A. Davis

Ehron Myers, RN (2010). RN Note, Pocket Guide.

4. Ehron Myers, RN (2008). Med-Surg Note, Pocket Guide. Current edition.

5. Dunham, Kelli S. (2007). How to Survive and Maybe Even Love Nursing School: A Guide for Students by Students. 3rd ed .Philadelphia: Davis.

6. Study Guide for Lewis, S. M, Heitkemper, M. M, & Dirksen, S.R. (2007) Medical-Surgical Nursing, 7th Ed. Chicago: Mosby

7. Clinical Companion for Potter and Perry Fundamentals of Nursing

8. Clinical Companion for Lewis & Heitkemper Medical-Surgical Nursing

9. Preusser, (2008) Critical Thinking in Medical Surgical Setting. Mosby.

10. Munley, M. J & P. A. Sayers. (1979) Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing, 6th ed. Scottsdale: PFH Associates, Inc. (Available for loan in HLRC)

Thanks so much!!!

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hello all!

i just got my acceptance for start in spring 2011!!!!! super excited! :D

i was given a list of required texts and some recommended texts. i was wondering if any of you current nursing students could help me out and let me know which of these recommended texts you think is the most important/useful to have while in school.

1.david & neil. (2007) medical abbreviations: 28,000 conveniences at the expense of communications and safety don't know this book and the subtitle makes me wonder. however, if it really is a comprehensive list of medical abbreviations, it might be helpful - you can find a lot on the web, though.

2. nugent & vitale. (2007) fundamentals success, (test taking) f.a. davis unneccessary

3. nugent & vitale. (2008) test success, f.a. davis unneccessary

ehron myers, rn (2010). rn note, pocket guide. useful

4. ehron myers, rn (2008). med-surg note, pocket guide. current edition. nice, i suppose, but how many "pocket guides" does one really need?

5. dunham, kelli s. (2007). how to survive and maybe even love nursing school: a guide for students by students. 3rd ed .philadelphia: davis. read it -- waste of time and money... and contributes to the fallacy that nursing school is incredibly difficult - it's not.

6. study guide for lewis, s. m, heitkemper, m. m, & dirksen, s.r. (2007) medical-surgical nursing, 7th ed. chicago: mosby forego the study guides, imo. just read the book and make up your own study guide as you go along.

7. clinical companion for potter and perry fundamentals of nursing useless.

8. clinical companion for lewis & heitkemper medical-surgical nursing same deal... at some point you just need to get in there and do it... publishers and authors will hawk books to no end... many instructors and professors buy into the hype.

9. preusser, (2008) critical thinking in medical surgical setting. mosby. useless.

10. munley, m. j & p. a. sayers. (1979) self-care deficit theory of nursing, 6th ed. scottsdale: pfh associates, inc. (available for loan in hlrc) nursing theory -- beyond useless... just the means for phd candidates to have something to write about in dissertations and for nursing profs to be able to publish.

thanks so much!!!

there're my takes on 'em.

a couple of books that are worth having, imo: lippencott's illustrated reviews: pharmacology ~ lange review of medical physiology

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I haven't had experience with any except number 5 and I agree with the above poster. Waste of time and money.

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Thanks so much guys!!

:)

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Fundamentals Success Sucess helped me immensely with my exams. I also like RN Notes. I wouldn't bother with any of the others.

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:clpty:Congratulations on your acceptance:clpty::redbeathe

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I found Medical Surgical Nursing by Lewis in the single volume for $100 new on amazon. The study guide came with it for free. The study guide is around 600 pages. I'm the type of person that studies by taking practice tests so since it came with the textbook I'm going to try it out. My bookstore tried to sell the textbook used for close to $200 so I thought I'd let you know that you can save quite a bit on amazon.

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I've heard on this site hundreds of times that the "Success" series are really good books. That would be numbers 2 and 3 on your list. I actually have the "Test Success" book but havent gotten too far into it yet (dont start NS til August). But most people on this site say they use the books as studying tools for upcoming exams. They're basically NCLEX style books and they have a different book for every class (i.e. "Med Surg success", "Pharmacology Success", etc.). I would suggest looking the books up on Amazon.com and reading the reviews. I know for a fact that those books have excellent ratings, so they may be worth a try. Atleast go to your local bookstore and glance them over. You many end up liking them. I dont know about the other books though.

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A few books I have that are helping me through classes now:

All-in-One Care Planning Resource Mobsy's

Clinical Nursing Skills: Basic to Advanced skills

Taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary

Assessment made incredible easy

test strategies: passing nursing school and the nclex exam.

I buy all the study guide to my textbooks if they are available.

Love these:

memory notebook of nursing vol1

memory notebook of nursing vol2

memory notebook of nursing pharmacology & diagnostics.

I look at it this way. any book that i think might help is worth buying. If i dont really like I can send back or return or sell on half.com. just do not buy the med cards. you will always come across LOTS of drugs that are not in the box

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I have to disagree with the 1st response to you about the fundamentals success book. Everybody in my class found that book very helpful. It has tons of nclex practice questions for each topic you will go over in fundamentals. Practicing questions is essential before each test. It really helps you think critically and apply the information. I also bought the med/surg success and psychiatric success books for this semester and they are great.

Some of the other books seem kind of useless though. The study guides are useless and a big waste of time. I don't really care for "pocket guides" either because they are limited with their info and you just don't know what info you will need. Seems like a waste of pocket space to me.

I bought the tabers dictionary that my school recommended and I haven't even opened it. Why do you need that when you can google? It's much easier! lol!

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Thanks so much for the great info everyone!!

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i happened to love fundamentals success...i didn't use it on the first two tests of nursing school in my first semester...but i did use it on my third and fourth tests and i got A's!...all of the "success" books are very helpful for question taking...however you should know your material first before using them b/c they are only q&a ...

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