Nursing School Must Haves??

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I am potentially starting Nursing school Fall2010 (God willing) and was wondering what are essentials that you all have that you would reccomend to others?? Things for organization, or whatever...Thanks!! :)

I know it was said before but NCLEX book by Saunders and my other fav NCLEX made incredibly easy series. "All-In-One Care Planning Resource" 2nd edition.

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What really helped me through nursing school was a recorder and a study partner. The recorder helped me listen back concepts I may have missed. Having someone to study with is motivating and it provides support because they are dealing with the stress of nursing school too. Another MUST is to have an outlet where you can relax because you will feel stressed. Good Luck ;)

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Specializes in NICU.

Sleep. The ability to take care of yourself even when you're overwhelmed. Too many nursing students lose their perspective because they forgot an important rule: Caregivers must take care of themselves first.

Drug guides galore. Personally, I have three, one of which is a pocket edition.

Care plan books galore. Really makes care plans much easier.

Once you start getting textbooks for your nursing courses, don't sell them back or give them away. They are very useful resources for subsequent semesters.

A good stethoscope is a must: http://www.medisave.net/3m-littmann-stethoscope-classic-ii-se-stethoscope-c-21_25.html

Comfortable shoes

Comfortable hair ties. Nothing is more embarrassing than trying to test out on a sterile catheterization and have your hair fall in your face and sterile field.

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Specializes in ED.

I haven't read all the replies yet but I would wait until you get accepted to the program to buy any books or expensive stuff. Our first "fundamentals" class' required book list included an NCLEX study guide and it was included in the bundle that we could buy from our book store.

I will caveat that statement by saying I still found most of my required books much cheaper from amazon.com, barnesandnobel.com, etc. If there is ever a bundle offered at the campus bookstore I usually buy those.

You definitely need a good planner and good organization skills. If you don't have those, you need to find some. Staying organized is KEY!!!

You need a rolling bag for all the crap you have to carry to and from class and wherever you study.

A few people mentioned voice recorders to record lectures. We are not allowed to record lectures in our classes so be sure you can before you go out and buy one. If you don't already have one, I would strongly suggest a laptop. I use it daily in classes and type much faster than I can write.

I mentioned staying organized....I love binders but they aren't working for me this semester. I used one in all of my four classes last semester but I don't have one this term. ?? I do find that I must at least keep the sturdy plastic, pocket folders for each class though. I do keep the syllabus for the class in it and any little handwritten notes or handouts in there. I am also a big chart maker when it comes time to study. I usually keep those for each class in there too.

When I did use binders, I kept them tabbed so I could separate class notes/power points, any study guides given, etc. It just all depends on how the instructors teach the class.

Ahhh yes, Facebook. Essential. I'm a good bit older than most of the students in my program but even I use the heck out of FB. We created a group for our class to exchange info, tips, cool websites, etc. We have an online communication tool for our university but the instructors can see that so we have our own place to ask questions or vent about stuff w/o being heard by the wrong folks. FB is sometimes a blessing!

Good luck!!

Meredith

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A few questions...

1. Can anyone reccommend a good calender and planner ones that have ALOT of space?

2. Anyone use the book Test success by Nugent and others...did you find it helpful?

3. Im trying to learn med terms on my own any suggestions?

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Specializes in ED.
A few questions...

1. Can anyone reccommend a good calender and planner ones that have ALOT of space?

2. Anyone use the book Test success by Nugent and others...did you find it helpful?

3. Im trying to learn med terms on my own any suggestions?

I use a Mom Agenda as my planner. It is a larger planner but it does have a lot of room for all kinds of stuff. momagenda.com is the website. It has spots for 3 kids' activities plus my own space for the day set up in a weekly format. I only have one child so I use the other two child spaces for my school activities and my volunteer organization obligations. It also has a monthly calendar that is great to see the big picture. I color code almost everything so it is all easy to see too.

2. Yes, I use those books. My Fundamentals Success book is darn near tatters because I have used it so much.

3. Med terms. that just comes with the classes I think. Some of those laminated "Quick Study" gizmos are pretty good if you need to have the terms handy.

good luck!

meredith

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I haven't read all the replies yet but I would wait until you get accepted to the program to buy any books or expensive stuff. Our first "fundamentals" class' required book list included an NCLEX study guide and it was included in the bundle that we could buy from our book store.

I will caveat that statement by saying I still found most of my required books much cheaper from amazon.com, barnesandnobel.com, etc. If there is ever a bundle offered at the campus bookstore I usually buy those.

You definitely need a good planner and good organization skills. If you don't have those, you need to find some. Staying organized is KEY!!!

You need a rolling bag for all the crap you have to carry to and from class and wherever you study.

A few people mentioned voice recorders to record lectures. We are not allowed to record lectures in our classes so be sure you can before you go out and buy one. If you don't already have one, I would strongly suggest a laptop. I use it daily in classes and type much faster than I can write.

I mentioned staying organized....I love binders but they aren't working for me this semester. I used one in all of my four classes last semester but I don't have one this term. ?? I do find that I must at least keep the sturdy plastic, pocket folders for each class though. I do keep the syllabus for the class in it and any little handwritten notes or handouts in there. I am also a big chart maker when it comes time to study. I usually keep those for each class in there too.

When I did use binders, I kept them tabbed so I could separate class notes/power points, any study guides given, etc. It just all depends on how the instructors teach the class.

Ahhh yes, Facebook. Essential. I'm a good bit older than most of the students in my program but even I use the heck out of FB. We created a group for our class to exchange info, tips, cool websites, etc. We have an online communication tool for our university but the instructors can see that so we have our own place to ask questions or vent about stuff w/o being heard by the wrong folks. FB is sometimes a blessing!

Good luck!!

Meredith

I have never head of not being allowed to record lectures. What was their reasoning for this?

I sure hope their isn't a age limit on facebook LOL I live on their and you can always tell when I should be studying because I will have like 100 status updates for the day, anything to distract me FROM studying LOL I have quiet a few nursing friends on there. :p

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Specializes in ED.
I have never head of not being allowed to record lectures. What was their reasoning for this?

I sure hope their isn't a age limit on facebook LOL I live on their and you can always tell when I should be studying because I will have like 100 status updates for the day, anything to distract me FROM studying LOL I have quiet a few nursing friends on there. :p

Yeah, we can't use laptops in 2 of our 3 classes this year either. We are all so pi$$ed!!! They are saying that students in the past were playing on FB, games, etc so they don't allow them. Whatever. Their reason for not using recorders is that they feel that we don't "participate" or listen when using recorders. :uhoh3: Again, Whatever.

A lot of us are "older" students and we feel like we are being treated like high school kids now. I can type way faster than I can write too!

m

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Yeah, we can't use laptops in 2 of our 3 classes this year either. We are all so pi$$ed!!! They are saying that students in the past were playing on FB, games, etc so they don't allow them. Whatever. Their reason for not using recorders is that they feel that we don't "participate" or listen when using recorders. :uhoh3: Again, Whatever.

A lot of us are "older" students and we feel like we are being treated like high school kids now. I can type way faster than I can write too!

m

That stinks. I mean I can see more of the reasoning behind the laptops, we can have them but no one uses them during lecture. But I can at least see some rationale for that, but I can't see the rationale for the recorder. I learn best this way. I wish our school or program would start doing pod casts, I think we are starting to get their but probably won't be in place until I am done LOL, It would make it easier because sometimes the recording don't come out that great and some teachers just talk so softly.

The only rationale I can come up with concerning recorders is not wanting stuff "documented".

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
A few questions...

1. Can anyone reccommend a good calender and planner ones that have ALOT of space?

2. Anyone use the book Test success by Nugent and others...did you find it helpful?

3. Im trying to learn med terms on my own any suggestions?

I found a suggestion for this one on this site http://www.uncalendar.com/index.jsp

It is really cool and good, I got one for my JHS son, but I never stuck with it. I am not good with orgainizing LOL, I ended up printing the semester calendar and my binder has a clear pocket on the front cover, I keep the current page on that and that has been the only thing I ended up using. I used to put all my schedule in my phone also but never would look at it, I would still always just check our school calandar on the front of my notebook LOL

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So I just found out I was accepted!!! so im actually going to put all these tips to use!! Can anyone recommend some summer readings that you read before nursing school (that actually helped)?

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Specializes in Pediatric Hem/Onc.

The list is simple for me:

1. Planner with work, school, medical appointments all entered.

2. Blackberry. Not having to carry your med, diagnosis, and lab book to clinical is such a win. So is Google.

3. Saunders NCLEX book. It helped me immensely in med-surg! I use it every term.

4. Dividers, and one big binder to keep everything in.

5. A quality backpack with lots of pockets for the roughly 900 highlighters, pens, pencils, penlights, and various other gadgets I've seemed to accumulate.

6. Quality vodka. Or just the thought of it, really.

I graduate in January, and the thought of having a dirty martini night of celebration keeps me going. Of course, I'm so tired from everything I'll probably opt to take a nap :yeah: Yay nursing school!

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