An older friend of mine gave me a Textbook of Medical - Surgical nursing...from 1975.
It talks about priorities, ie. basic needs, the need to feel wanted and so on... charting, care plans, initial examinations and observations and a number of other things I've seen discussed on the forum. It's very interesting reading and has sections on how to care for patients with...fill in the blank.
My question is:
Is this helpful to me since it's from 1975? Like I said I now know what people mean when they talk about priority questions on the NCLEX. Or do I?
Still have some of my nursing textbooks from '66-'68 but all they do is gather dust. Can't bring myself to get rid of them. I am a book person, love to read and have many books I've read over the years. If I were starting school now I would not look at books from years ago, not even 5 years, because so many things change so fast in nursing as in all other fields now.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I'd read it, but take it with a grain of salt. I do think that anything nursing related to keep your mind busy is a plus, but as others have stated, things have changed, and if you plan to use it as a study guide, it may be a mistake. I remember I went to my hospital's library when I was studying for the boards and they were giving away books from the 1980s. I found one great book on pharmacology. I liked the way that it broke down all of the main drugs, but there were plenty of meds that were missing, like viagra, the statin drugs and a few others that wound up being on my state boards. I still keep the book because it is an invaluable resource, but had I counted on that one to pass exams and NCLEX, I would have been steered wrongly.
once you are done with school and want to see how things were done back when check it out. i wouln't take what it says as gospel. i would take it as an easy read something to look at and say "wow i can't beleive they used to have to do that"
No way would I read it. There is enough RIGHT things to learn...I would hate to learn something wrong...and it changes all the time. You can get a Med-Surg or foundations book from THIS decade for dirt cheap on Ebay if you really want to start reading.
rita359
437 Posts
Still have some of my nursing textbooks from '66-'68 but all they do is gather dust. Can't bring myself to get rid of them. I am a book person, love to read and have many books I've read over the years. If I were starting school now I would not look at books from years ago, not even 5 years, because so many things change so fast in nursing as in all other fields now.