New nursing student question...what do you use to carry all these books?!

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I use a JanSport rolling backpack (got on clearance for $35 this time last year from officemax). I actually haven't been using it as much since pretty much all of the books include an access code for an online version. Any work we do at school that involves computers means you have access to the books as well.

I also have a Jansport backpack with wheels. I actually got it a few semesters before I even started because I hurt my shoulder and couldn't carry my regular backpack. I love it! I can stuff half my life in it!

I have a rolling backpack, however I don't use it much. My books usually stay in my trunk, and I go get them as needed. Whatever works for you. Typically I don't need a book for lecture. Do anyone else's books smell like coffee?? ;)

Specializes in Cardiac Care.

A laptop... I downloaded the e-copy from the Elsevier website of all my textbooks that they published. Also, I never had a use the actual textbook during lecture so I ended up leaving them at home. Besides my lectures were all on powerpoints anyway!

I've been out of school for about a year now but here's what I did...I had a 3 prong folder for each class as well as a portfolio that could be divided up. We used PowerPoint pretty much in every class so I would print the PowerPoints for that class that week and bring them in the folder to take notes on and then file them by week in the portfolio at the end of the week. We also were given objectives to guide us With the reading so I would type those while I read and printed them out to go with that week.. Sort of ended up being like an outline for the chapters to study with. When I got to the tests I had each week neatly organized with outlines and PowerPoints with all the notes on them. I used a back pack but with the lightness of the folders it was easy to take 1-2 books you might want to bring..don't try and carry everything for a class for the whole semester! I did it for a few months and there was no need. You just kill your back.

Here is something you might consider that I and many of my fellow students did. We had a MED-SURG book that was so huge it was totally crazy. It weighed >9 lbs and was so thick that when you opened it parts of the pages were obscured in the center bulk. It was unusable because of it's girth, as well as being a danger to small animals or babies (what if it fell off the table!), not to mention the infeasibility of transporting it to class. We took them to a Kinkos that did binding and had them cut up and rebound in sections. Everyone did it differently - some by the sections according to the study guide, others by sections of consecutive chapters. One suggestion I can make is to have a table of contents page, glossary and index copied and included in each section. This did not adversely affect the longevity of the textbook-I stil have and use all the sections for further studies and reference. It was quite affordable to do this also.

A back pack on wheels!!! Those roller back packs are life savers. Im a nursing student and thats what I use. Im also lucky enough to have lockers at my school..If you don't have lockers then I recommend leaving your books in the car and just go back and forth and get what you need, because If you carry them ALL- it hurts!! ;)

Hope this helped... and good luck in school :)

I just pictured carrying all of my nursing textbooks at once. They take up an entire shelf on my bookshelf, about 3 1/2 ft of text books! I would not have a bag big enough.

Specializes in Orthopedic, LTC, STR, Med-Surg, Tele.

When I was in school, I just carried my monster nursing binder and then (if I had time to read or they told us to bring the book ahead of time) whatever textbook was appropriate. I used a large tote bag from LLBean, with my name embroidered on. Cute and rugged!

The drawback IS..... when I would take it to clinical, and we had to leave our stuff in some random room, I didn't like that you could just pull open the top and see all my stuff. I figured out by the end of clinicals that I just basically needed a folder, pen, and stethoscope anyway.

I did something similar with my Med/Surg book, but I just had it 3-hole drilled and put it in a 4" binder, then I would pull the chapters that were to be covered for each section and place them in a 1" binder to take with me to class and for reading. It accomplished two things, one, it was a LOT lighter to carry AND it made my reading look not quite so daunting. If I remember correctly it cost me about $8 for Kinko's do do that. Once I did that, I didn't have to carry a backpack or roller bag at all, just a small canvas bag with my binder, highlighters, note pad and pens/pencils.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Developmental Disablities.

Well I was in a LVN program we were told to bring all our books everday cause the subjects may be changed. one day instead of anatomy we haad pharm. we all had suitcases on wheels. You could tell who was in lvn program. It sucked when elevator out of order an we had to go upstairs. we had two guys in the class an they would carry them upstairs an down for all 30 of us.

I never really carried a backpack around, only something that was big enough to atleast handle my biggest book which was always the MED-SURG book. During clinicals i left ALL my books and notes in my car. Just in case the day didnt go as planned. I remember one day for med-surg clinicals we spent our entire day in the balcony of a LTCC because there was a discrepancy with scheduling. Luckily I had books that my instructor used for reviewing material.

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