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Discussion

Pathophysiology book recommendation?

Anyone have a recommendation for a nursing patho book I can start reading now before I start NS? Is there a book you found particularly helpful? I was looking on Amazon, but a lot of the patho books are for med. students, so I couldn't tell if they would be helpful to a nursing student.

Thanks!

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I am taking patho as a pre-nursing course. Our book is Understanding Pathophysiology by Huether. I also bought but haven't really opened Pathophysiology Made Incredibly Easy. I enjoy our text, and I've read others in the Made Incredibly Easy series and highly recommend them.

i actually wanted to know the same thing. i start pathophysiology tuesday and find our current textbook extremely dry!

lewis and dirksen is a good one

brunner and suddarth is also good

both are expensive though like over 100 dollars!

I am taking patho as a pre-nursing course. Our book is Understanding Pathophysiology by Huether. I also bought but haven't really opened Pathophysiology Made Incredibly Easy. I enjoy our text, and I've read others in the Made Incredibly Easy series and highly recommend them.

For my class, I also used Understanding Pathophysiology, by Heuther and McCance, 3rd Ed. I really like how it's organized. I'm glad I didn't sell it after I was done with the class because I use it all the time now, writing my nursing care plans.

  • Expert

i use 2 books to answer pathophysiology questions:

  1. pathophysiology: the biologic basis for disease in adults and children, third edition, by kathryn l. mccance and sue e. heuther. currently in it's 5th edition of publication. cost is $93.95.
    • this book weighs a ton so don't drop it on your foot and is boring to the max but has extremely good information that you are not likely to find anywhere else
    • the information on the inflammatory response that i often quote came from this book and takes up an entire chapter
    • few to no nursing interventions or medical treatment information

[*]pathophysiology: a 2-in-1 reference for nurses by springhouse, springhouse publishing company staff. runs $44.95

  • this book is much easier to read and understand
  • organized by body systems and major diseases within those systems
  • features of each disease: causes, its pathophysiology, signs and symptoms, complications, how its diagnosed, how its treated, nursing considerations (interventions).
  • problem: no peds or ob

online resources:

any pathophysiology book is going to help. a word of warning. . .this material is not easy reading. even i have to sometimes read one sentence or paragraph over and over many times before it finally sinks in and i understand the concept. this is why you will see questions on the forum asking about the pathophysiology of some things. popular ones are congestive heart failure, any infection, copd, renal failure, hypertension and cancer. i often go looking on the medical school sites for stuff.

    •
    • Author

    Thanks to all who have answered thus far. I really appreciate it. I'm going to check out a few of those books on Amazon. My hope is that if I do some reading now, my reaction won't be :eek: when I open my patho text for the first time next year. :chuckle

    • Expert

    If you want to read ahead I would suggest that you can do a lot online for free. I think its a waste to buy supplemental books unless you start running into trouble and really need the help. If you have the money to spend--great--go for it. But most students have a limited budget and nursing school will usually cost you $1,000 in required textbooks for the first semester.

    Subjects to study:

    • immune and inflammation responses
    • diabetes - types I and II
    • congestive heart failure
    • strokes
    • emphysema and asthma
    • how cancer works

    The primary patients seen in the acute hospitals today have septic infections, heart, digestive or respiratory diseases, orthopedic injuries (including neurological), major surgery and diabetes is often a secondary problem.

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    For the what it's worth department: we're using Essentials of Pathophysiology: Concepts of Altered Health States by Porth.

    I've just started thumbing through it (we start next week), but so far I really like it. It's been a few years since I took A&P, so I really appreciate that there are chapters that describe the physiology of the normal organ system before the chapters that describe what happens to the diseased system. It's not only good for review, but it also offers a great point for comparison.

    The pictures look great as well and seem like they're going to be helpful.

    I choose to get Essentials of Pathophysiology by Porth too. :up: It was a recommended book on our first semester book list. After reading and getting into it for about a month now, (prior to school starting) I like it. I'm using the learning objectives listed for each chapter (on the book's website) as study questions. I don't have the opportunity of taking a patho class so I'm tackling it on my own. :banghead:, lol.

    I recently bought "pathophysiology made incredibly easy 4th edition", you can find it at Amazon, and Books a million, its a GREAT book, and it'll help you understand things and be ahead before you start, lots of good colorful pictures and diagrams also.

    • Author

    Subjects to study:

    • immune and inflammation responses
    • diabetes - types I and II
    • congestive heart failure
    • strokes
    • emphysema and asthma
    • how cancer works

    The primary patients seen in the acute hospitals today have septic infections, heart, digestive or respiratory diseases, orthopedic injuries (including neurological), major surgery and diabetes is often a secondary problem.

    Thank you! That is VERY helpful!

    I was able to find McCance and Huether's Pathophys Biological Basis for Disease and accompanying workbook used for a couple bucks. I got them to preread, before starting, too. I start in a couple weeks and have only managed to skim. Drats!

    Then my NS book bundle contained McCance and Huether's Understanding Pathophys. What a relief to find that it is only 1100 pages vs the 1600+ pages of the Bio Basis book. Whew. It also appears to be an easier read, more concise and has more charts and illustrations.

    I never complain about having 2 or more sources on my shelf. Sometimes it really helps to have the benefit of different presentations and authors. It probably won't matter what you get, if you are just trying to understand the basics. If it will be awhile before you start go for something not too expensive. You can find older used editions for a couple dollars if you search. If you will start soon, find out what your school uses, and go for that. You can also check the library and save your dough!

    Good luck!

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