1st Year Nursing school books

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I was just wondering if you needed to get every book that is required and recommended for your first semester? I am a cash student and they are very expensive. Please let me know if you can.

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I was just wondering if you needed to get every book that is required and recommended for your first semester? I am a cash student and they are very expensive. Please let me know if you can.

In a word, yes. I get my books from here. They find the cheapest places for books PLUS they show shipping charges and so on. I got the ISBN numbers from the school and some students who are ahead of me and ordered mine. My first 3 months is fundamentals and the books from the bookstore were going to run me a little over 300, just for the first three months. I went to the above place and found them all and it only cost me 125. BIG Difference.

GOOD LUCK

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Specializes in SRNA.

Also, depending on your program, many books are used throughout multiple semesters. I had to buy a lot of books for my first semester and just had to buy maybe one or two for the 2nd and 3rd semester and for my 4th semester I didn't have to buy any new books.

I would go with the required books. Sometimes recommended textbooks are helpful, but sometimes they just suck. If you have a B&N near you, they have a nursing book section and you can find supplemental stuff there. Or check out the recommended stuff your classmates have bought to see if you'd use it. As an example, I bought a care plan book that wasn't required or recommended that I like more than the one that was required...it made writing care plans a breeze!

Also, like nurz2be said, there are many good deals out there. If you can find the ISBN, you can find a better deal, I'm sure!

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Specializes in LTC, sub-acute, urology, gastro.

Try half.com - it's affiliated with ebay. You can get books at very discounted rates -very reliable & will probably have every book you need. I got some at a 75% discount - it depends on the condition of the book - the sellers will tell you if it's highlighted, slightly used, etc. You can search by name, author or ISBN #

Good luck!

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Specializes in Med-surg.

It really just depends on your program. I just finished my first semester and I bought all of the "required" books ( from different discount places online) and spent about $1000. Come to find out that we didn't really have to have all of those books first semester, but that they are "required" for sometime during the program. But I found them to be helpful while doing care plans and such. So I ended up using them for reference, even though I didn't have to have them. Just ask the coordinator or someone who would know!

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Specializes in ED.
I was just wondering if you needed to get every book that is required and recommended for your first semester? I am a cash student and they are very expensive. Please let me know if you can.

If i could do it over I wouldn't have bought fluids/electrolytes or nutrition. I hardly have opened them in nursing school. I also did not buy the mental health care plan book (2nd year) and did fine without it.

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Specializes in ED.
I was just wondering if you needed to get every book that is required and recommended for your first semester? I am a cash student and they are very expensive. Please let me know if you can.

also, maybe wait until you get into the courses more and see if you think you need them. I wish I had. Buy the required ones and maybe wait it out for the others and if you think you need additional resources then buy them.

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I would look on craigslist or amazon and buy them used. Unless it's a workbook it doesn't need to be new. College bookstores are the biggest rip-off around, they charge you an arm and a leg and when it's time to buy back they give you pennies on the dollar for what you paid dearly for.

Once you are done you can sell your books on Amazon or Craigslits and get back a good chunk of what you spent. It worked for me, good luck!

P.S. I found a book that was selling for $85 at my school's book store for $10 s/h included on Amazon. It wasn't in brand new condition but for the price it got the job done.

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Specializes in CMSRN.

One word

!!!!!!!!!!Ebay!!!!!!!!

Not only did I buy them off the site but I also sold them. I came close to making money on the books. Just one of them ended up not reselling due to a new edition. (I sent it to goodwill)

Be patient and check way in adv of your semester. Do not be fooled by books that are new. Buy the ugliest, duct taped book you can get at a good price. As long as you can read the words you are good to go. (unless you are compulsive about neatness) Some previous editions have the exact writing and page numbers but only differentiate in a slight way. This may require a little researching and making sure you have a buddy with the correct edition to confirm info but it is possible to use previous editions.

You could even wait and purchase your book after semester begins or even ask people who already took the class how much they would sell it. They would probably ask just above or at what they would get at the bookstore. I have sold a couple of books way less since I bought them off ebay. (I wanted to pass on the saving .)

Side note: I am a big advocate of being frugal and find it challenging to see how little I can pay for something.

Good luck in your searches.

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Specializes in Mother/Baby and LDR.

I only wish I had the money to buy from other places. I have to use student loan money, which means I HAVE to buy from the high priced bookstore.:devil:

I start Jan. 14, 2008

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Specializes in progressive care telemetry.

On another site someone suggested to me to check witht he prfessors to see which books they actually *use* in their classes and go by that. I'm only taking prereq's now but wish I'd have done that, in A&P1 our prof uses handouts and our lab books, we've not used our textbook at all so far and won't ever use the supposedly *required* CD-ROM and DVD animations that come with the textbook.

Karen

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my school has it to where it's MANDATORY to buy our textbooks from them... it comes in this HEAVY box that weighs about 40lbs... hehe..

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