Nursing advice!!

Shorty11, BSN, RN · May 11, 2013

Nursing school is quite stressful! I'm inclined to say relax and enjoy your summer! You will have more than enough to focus on when the fall semester starts.

That being said... If you are planning to study over the summer, I have a few suggestions. (I just finished my 3rd of 5 semesters in a BSN program).

I would begin by reviewing a little A&P. Having a solid foundation of A&P is crucial to understanding disease processes. You need to know your "normals" before you can recognize "abnormals". I think that the anatomy & physiology coloring book that GrnTea often suggests is a huge help, especially if you are a visual learner.

Fluid & Electrolytes is a topic that took me longer to comprehend than most subjects in nursing. "Fluids & Electrolytes Made Incredibly Easy" was a big help to me. This topic is really important. If you have a grasp of the concepts early on, you won't need to spend as much time learning it when the time comes.

Dosage Calculation is something else that you could start on if you want. I am pretty good at math so for me it came easy, but it doesn't to many people. At my school, we don't take a separate dosage calc class. It is incorporated into every class so if you don't catch on quick, you could be left behind. I learned dosage calc from "Calculate with Confidence." It isn't the greatest book out there to teach you, but its the only one I am really familiar with. It has a lot of examples and practice problems. If you research different posts on AllNurses, I am sure you could find many other suggestions for Dosage Calc books and websites.

I really don't have any experience with different websites or online resources to help you study... I guess I am old school. I just have always purchased supplemental books for the topics that I am struggling with. Hopefully some other members will have some good suggestions for reliable resources.

Best of luck!

joshm212 · May 11, 2013

Thank you so much for your insight! I have been reading a lot of anatomy for dummies books. Also have micro biology made ridiculously simple. I did see that acid base book at Barnes the other day. I'm going to pick it up today thanks to you. I have been watching YouTube videos on the significance of ph and how it's related to arterial blood gasses. How about pharmacology? Thanks again!