No, it isnt they are trying to break your back(they save that for the hospitals to do :))They do however get kickbacks from the publishers..Lol  J/K of course

I agree some books can be great resources but do they have to be so heavy!!!LOL I guess like pezzy said it will be good practice for once I'm in the hospital.

Thanks for the suggestion alicerosa, I truly plan on getting a rolling back pack and great article about your school in TN, I went to undergraduate in TN (TSU) and wish you luck on whatever you decide to do relating to staying or transferring schools.

I feel your pain.  I am at the end of my program and let me tell you I only read out of ONE book.  I am talking about the nursing classes not the pre-reqs. Some of the pre-reqs like the science classes I did have to use the book. 

I have a peds, maternity, mental health, fundamentals, pharmacolgy, and patho books that I never once read out of!!  The only book that I have read from is the BIG back breaker med surg book and that is only for my last two med surg classes.  All of the other classes I read from the notes and from the NCLEX-RN book.  A total waste of money and of course I could not sell them back.  When I graduate I am going to see if I can sell them all on Ebay. 

zonnie21 please don't tell me this when i just invested my life savings this semester on my books LOL, congrats on getting close to the finish line and best of luck on your remaining semester!!!! I start Aug 26 and finish in 20 months.  I will update you on if I at least crack open my books.

Everyone in my classes use a rolling backpack.  It's just easier.  One girl even has a rolling back pack for each class but she's one of those who neurotic types that thinks if she has every peice of nursing literature printed, she will pass her classes.  As for using the books, if you don't use them now you will use them in subsequent classes.  We started a program in our school where the graduating class has the option to sell their books and uniforms to new students coming in at a discounted price.  It works out good for everybody

browncl says ...

zonnie21 please don't tell me this when i just invested my life savings this semester on my books LOL, congrats on getting close to the finish line and best of luck on your remaining semester!!!! I start Aug 26 and finish in 20 months.  I will update you on if I at least crack open my books.

Oh no that is just my experience.  As I said to StarlightRN I have some classmates that have used their books.  I use my  NCLEX book like it is going out of business.  It is falling apart and the front cover is taped.  And I am really about to use it when I start to study for boards.  (I plan on taking Kaplan too). 

Kotoko says ...

My tip is to ask some upper years which books they found most useful. I was lucky because when I went to my school's bookstore to get some nursing textbooks for the first time, there was a third year nursing student there, too, and he was very helpful in going over my book list and marking which ones I'd need for sure and which ones I should buy only if I really felt like it and had the extra cash (which I didn't, lol). Ever since, I've made it a point to ask people if they think a book is worth purchasing or not.

If it helps, I find that a lot of nursing textbooks will be useful all throughout your time at school so it's these ones that are worth your money.

Also, I don't know why you guys have to carry around your textbooks o_O; I hardly ever carry my textbooks with me. The only ones I seem to bring along are my pocket drug guide (which is small) and one of my physical assessment books (which is not too bad), and even then, I don't carry them around a whole lot - just when they're needed. At the hospitals around here, they have some textbooks at the nursing stations for people to use as references, and on campus, the library has a few copies of the books on the booklist, as well, so I find I can leave most of my textbooks behind at home so I don't have to break my back carrying them all!

Well about carrying around the books, we do use them in class to follow along with lecture.  when class is over, we head straight for the library to study or read.  Most of us students are parents and have a difficult time studying at home so we  have limited study time.  while the kids are in school, we cram.  I mean we bring our lunches and everything in there.  As for the hospitals, there is no place to keep our text books so they are either in my car or at home.  It works good with the rolling backpack cuz I have everything I need in one spot and my kids know they are forbodden to touch it or anything inside it.  There's only one guy in my class that only has the fundamentals book and doesn't even carry that with him to school.  But he is one of those brainiacs that hears something one time and remembers it.  Everyone has their own system of what works best for them.

I'm a freshman this year and had to buy my anatomy books today. They are SO expensive. I try to find them on ebay. It's kind of a hassle to watch the auctions and not guaranteed that you'll get them, but its definately worth it. I got a book for 25 that usually costed around 60. Hope that helps!

I got many of my nursing books through Amazon.com. It was much cheaper than through the college book store. I kept most of them rather than selling them back because you lose so much money. They are also good for future reference. 

Many of my nursing books were so expensive and heavy. The ones that first come to mind are Anatomy, Fundamentals, Med/Surg and Pharmacology. I used to joke and say that I had to drop out of school because I couldn't carry my books to class each day!  Luckily most of the instructors didn't require bringing the textbooks to lectures.   

Thanks for all your suggestion relating to how to lug my books around, but I lucked up that all my classes are in one building so I can keep my books in my car.  This my first week of school and I met my new classmates that will be with me for the next 20 months.  I am so excited and overwhelmed right now. I know this is going to be great but I know if I want this it is going to take lots of work and time management.  Wish me luck and I wish all the other nursinglink students good luck. 

Thanks curlyd!!!!

I got both these books. I also took the Kaplan review class (which had online access). I found the Kaplan book to be more concise, whereas the Saunders book goes into more detail. The Saunders book also has a disk you can use to customize quizzes. I have recommended the Saunders book to nursing students as well as those studying for the NCLEX exam.

I just started my nursing program and I have about ten books that we will use most of the time and about twenty reference books. It cost me about seven to eight hundred dollars. I only carry the ones that we use most and rest are on my desk to use while studing and some are just sitting there waiting for the time when they will be used. I got a rolling bookbag as well, but I had to have one because i have scoliosis so i cant carry anything heavy. It has been wonderful. I love it. I sometimes wish though that I had gotten most of my books online somewhere that way it would not have cost me so much. good luck everyone with there nursing careers.

Well about carrying around the books, we do use them in class to follow along with lecture.  when class is over, we head straight for the library to study or read.  Most of us students are parents and have a difficult time studying at home so we  have limited study time.  while the kids are in school, we cram.  I mean we bring our lunches and everything in there.  As for the hospitals, there is no place to keep our text books so they are either in my car or at home.  It works good with the rolling backpack cuz I have everything I need in one spot and my kids know they are forbodden to touch it or anything inside it.  There's only one guy in my class that only has the fundamentals book and doesn't even carry that with him to school.  But he is one of those brainiacs that hears something one time and remembers it.  Everyone has their own system of what works best for them.

True, everyone has their own methods and systems to get them through school, but there has to be a better way than breaking your backs all the time. No one I know carries around big textbooks with them around campus because they're just way too much on top of our other things (we get course manuals for each of our nursing courses and they can sometimes be A LOT of paper, which equals a surprising amount of weight). In terms of lectures, our profs tend to post them online and we print them out and write on them in class. If we need to, we can always go back to our textbooks later and fill in the missing stuff. And libraries tend to have some copies of the books, too, if you have to go there (although fortunately, I rent a place close to campus with some friends, who are also students, so I almost never have to do this).