Books and DVDs to Keep from Sophomore Year

There are three books you definitely need to keep from sophomore year—your drug book, nursing diagnosis handbook, and clinical skills textbook. I am not sure which books the current sophomore class utilized, but the ones I used (and am still using as a junior) are Mosby’s Nursing Drug Reference, Nursing Diagnosis Handbook: An evidence Based Guide to Planning Care, and Clinical Nursing Skill & Techniques.

During your junior year these books will serve you well as you write your nursing profiles. The drug book will aid you as you write the medication information as well as the patho portion of your profiles. Also, the Nursing Diagnosis Handbook will help you formulate cohesive careplans that are specific to the needs of your particular patient.

The Clinical Skills textbook will come in handy when you prepare for clinicals as well as serve as a study aid when you prepare for your junior-level Med Surg check-offs. I’m not sure if you received information about the clinical skills you will be checked off on during your first few weeks of Med Surg, but you will be checked off on various skills that you will be expected to perform during clinicals. These skills range from knowing how to set the flow rate on an IV pump to performing tracheostomy care. Unlike Health Assessment and Fundamentals, however, you will not have a lab portion to your classroom time. Instead, the burden will be upon you to learn the material and master it for your check-off with a senior.

The good news is that the nursing department has provided you with many resources to help you walk into your check-offs and, eventually, your clinicals competent and confident. One of the resources is the nursing lab coordinator who provides a once-a-week elective review of the skills on which you will be checked off. I highly recommend attending this informational session. I am a visual learner, and I understand processes much better if I am able to see them demonstrated rather than read a step-by-step guide to a skill.

Another suggestion I have in regards to preparing for check-offs is to keep your DVDs from Fundamentals (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced Skills). I found watching the videos helped me review skills I learned in Fundies (such as inserting a foley) as well as learn new skills (such as providing trach care).