WOW!!! I just saw how much first semester books cost!!!

mammac5 · Jun 17, 2010

By the way, the new edition of APA that came out in print late 2009 has errors, which the publisher acknowleged after the books were printed but it was too late for those who bought the darned thing already!

If you're going to buy one (which you truly do not need to do) make sure you got one that was printed after corrections were made.

sunkissed75, CNA · Jun 17, 2010

Renting might be a good option...but I don't know how much shipping is...maybe someone can answer that. I only bring it up becuase you might want to keep a lot of the books you get for refernce even into your nursing career. I know when I got my books off of alibris.com I only paid about $3.00 for the books and $18.00 or so for shipping and I get to keep my books forever if I want. But like I said, they are the previous edition. Except for very, very minor details (like page numbers, maybe a newer chart or diagram per chapter) the wording is verbatem! If you can rent for cheaper than that it might be something to consider. I didn't even know about the coupons at the time I ordered!! I could have had a dollar off and paid only $2.00 for my books!!

twois · Jun 20, 2010

Half.com and next-oldest editions (if the required text is REALLY new) are the greatest thing ever! I think my required books were around $5-600 new for our first semester, but I paid about $80. If there's something in the new edition that I've GOTTA have for reference, I've always had study partners with bigger wallets than mine with the new editions... a few quarters in the photocopier fixes that problem.

DayDreamin ER CRNP · Jun 20, 2010

I looked through your book list. I counted at least 6 books that you will use through your whole student nursing career. The courses to come will not cost as much or nothing at all. For example if you take psych. you may need to buy only the psych. book.

I agree. There are several on that list that I'll bet you use in all your future classes or at least most of them. As others suggested, shop on line. Craigslist or your school bulletin board is another option for finding used books.

I used to think i HAD to get the latest edition but in reality, they info is the same and laid our in pretty much the same way and you can get by with older editions.

I have yet to buy a new book for nursing classes. Ok, maybe ONE. I bought the med-surg book because we use it for two semesters and no one I knew was getting rid of their old one.

I'm sure you can get the Tabers and many of the others in very gently used condition for a fraction of the price on half.com, amazon.com, barnes and noble and alibris.com. My first semester books would have cost around $1100 but found them all at those sites MUCH cheaper.

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KB24 · Jun 21, 2010

Never buy your books at the school store on campus because they're always going to cost a lot more than other places. Look for the books online on sites like Amazon. You can also rent the books online, if you want to save more money and you don't need the books after the class is over.

Live4Medicine · Jun 21, 2010

I definitely agree to shop around. Try half.com, it defaults to Ebay used textbooks and they usually have books that other websites don't carry. I have been able to find most of my books from here for school at great prices.

scifihippie · Jun 21, 2010

I bought all my books on amazon for $700 the first semester. You'll use the books the entire time, so it's the only semester that will be like this. I have to buy one additional book this fall and it will be $60.

LuckyinKY · Jun 21, 2010

So is it ok to use older editions, like the edition prior to the current one for nursing textbooks? I usually do that for my non-nursing classes, but I am terrified that the nursing information needs to be current. I really cannot afford $800 or more for my first semester books. I have a Littmann steth and BP cuff already, but there are still uniforms, and a mandatory Iphone/Itouch nursing app bundle and who knows what else.

bewitched · Jun 21, 2010

Haven't read all of the posts in this thread so I'm sorry if I'm repeating anything, but BIGWORDS.COM is a great website, found it invaluable the last few semesters. Basically you put the ISBN of each book you need into their search engine and it will search all of the other stores for the cheapest copy of the book.

Also look into CHEGG.COM to rent some of the books, such as the APA guide. Although I second the suggestion not to actually purchase that one, heh. It's all available on the internet and half of my college instructors have had their own way to do research papers, style guides be damned.

mom2rjns · Jun 27, 2010

Don't waste money on study guides or the dictionary. Your main textbook should have a website/dvd that are great resources! They have NCLEX review style questions and videos and such that make it unnecessary to buy study guides. Don't buy flashcards, you will make your own anyways. You don't need APA style. There is a great website from OWL Purdue that has a great resource.

Also-If you have updated Microsoft Word, there is a bibliography setup that all you do is type in the format you need, the authors, the dates, etc. and it automatically sets it up. Hope that helps too!

MrsJessica · Jun 27, 2010

So is it ok to use older editions, like the edition prior to the current one for nursing textbooks? I usually do that for my non-nursing classes, but I am terrified that the nursing information needs to be current. I really cannot afford $800 or more for my first semester books. I have a Littmann steth and BP cuff already, but there are still uniforms, and a mandatory Iphone/Itouch nursing app bundle and who knows what else.

My Nursing Professor gave us advice that we "may" use an older edition, but the problem with those is that there may be more information in the newer edition books. Also, it may help on tests, understanding lectures and labs more if we have the current and up to date information. Maybe like if you need a "8th" edition, but found someone who had a 7th edition for cheap you would probably be okay, but again it won't have all of the up to date information that you may need. It's always so hard to know what to do in that case because your nursing classes are so important and I probably wouldn't get anything other than what they advised us to get. Are you able to put your textbooks/uniforms on your student loan? I know how expensive all of this stuff is, especially when you have a family and kids to provide for. You can always ask your professor what she advises on textbooks and in some cases they might have some to lend out for students who are in a financial bind (that's what our professor told us) You never know until you ask!

dudette10, MSN, RN · Jun 27, 2010

So is it ok to use older editions, like the edition prior to the current one for nursing textbooks? I usually do that for my non-nursing classes, but I am terrified that the nursing information needs to be current. I really cannot afford $800 or more for my first semester books. I have a Littmann steth and BP cuff already, but there are still uniforms, and a mandatory Iphone/Itouch nursing app bundle and who knows what else.

Brunner and Sudarth's new edition is very, very different from the previous edition, apparently. Any textbook that looks like it will be used for teaching--as opposed to reference--be sure to get the most current edition. :twocents:

@OP...skip the APA style guide. I never use mine. As someone else said, OWL is much easier for our purposes. As for the 2 recommended study guides at the end of your list, you need to determine whether you need "guides" such as that. I would skip 'em for myself. There are three you can knock off right there.