Nursing school books???

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I couldn't find a topic on this already so I'm hoping someone can answer my question. I'm working my way towards a BSN degree and a good friend of mine graduated from a university in Louisiana earlier this month with her BSN. She knows I plan on going to a university to complete my BSN as soon as I finish up my pre-reqs, so she gave me ALL of her nursing school books! A whole tuff box full of them. Bless her heart, she is wonderful. My question is that I'm in Texas and I plan on applying to a couple different schools here in the Houston area and I'm not sure if all the states use the same books and curriculum. Is there any way to see what books will be needed for specific schools BSN program? I'm sure she just saved me like 5k if not more if I'm able to use her old books for the nursing program I go to. Thanks in advance.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

You won't know what books you'll need until the book list is released. This typically happens a few weeks before the semester starts. It is very possible that the books you've gotten will not be the books used by the school you attend. It's also possible that while some of the books may end up being the same, they may be different editions depending on when your friend took her courses and you take yours.

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I was afraid of that [emoji20]

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I was afraid of that [emoji20]

They will still be good resources though.

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Thank you guys! I wish there was a way to see if they were the same books I will need. Oh well.

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Well I did it this way to find out my books. Because my school sells the books as a whole set, and I wanted to buy them separately to get them less expensive, I just called the library and gave them the course codes and asked for a book list or ISBN's. They emailed me promptly. Granted, my school is small. You could find out what courses you'd be starting off with from the school's site. If they don't have an updated list yet for the next semester, you can ask for last semester's, usually they stick with the same authors just a newer ed sometimes.

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That's a great idea! Thank you!

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Specializes in NICU, Trauma, Oncology.

I have books that were given to me that are out of date or not the authors my program uses - but the material is the same. Sometimes one author can clearly state something in a way you better understand. And also questions at the ends of chapters are great. Use them as reources

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Specializes in NICU.

You can also look into online textbook rental instead of purchasing. Any textbook that I didn't want to keep, I rented (they pay for shipping both ways). It was actually cheaper than buying the book, then trying to sell it back online.

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

I haven't bought a book in 3 years. I use Bookrenter. Awesome service, super cheap, and no need to clutter the house with unused books.

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HalfPriceBooks.com, Chegg, Amazon (Hope you have prime), Half.com are all good sites.

Theres also a way more convenient place that you can get your books from that are completely free... The library! Just keep checking them out. I haven't really been buying books in a long time, library is the first place I go to. :whistling:

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Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

I also noticed that if you buy the book just an edition older you can save HUNDREDS OF dollars. Alot of books that are outdated cost no more than $5.00 on amazon. The material is essentially the same. Worked for me throughout nursing school. I never failed a class or even came close and I used outdated versions of books as resources to help me study difficult content..

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