Do Nursing Books Talk About Medicine? Nursing is a complex, diverse, dynamic field with a huge base of literature from which nurses at all levels can draw support and education. Another essential resource that is expendably accessible to nurses is the nursing books that contain information which relevant to the nursing career.
Today’s video, and this is a video that is highly requested by quite a number of you guys who do currently follow me, and that is my top book recommendations for nursing school. So, nursing school, aka university, or wherever you are in the world, however you call your institution, all the books that I speak about in this video are books that I have used myself as a student nurse. Some of these books I still use as a registered nurse as well, which, of course, I’ll go into more detail with.
Disclaimer
Just a bit of a disclaimer before I start: these are, of course, what I used as a nursing student. By no means is it the only books you need. This has just worked for me, and what I think would be rather good suggestions for you guys to take on board.
Book Recommendation 1: Anatomy and Physiology Textbook
So, the first book that I believe every nursing student should consider to invest in is an anatomy and physiology textbook. This is the one that’s from Ross and Wilson’s Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Fitness textbook. Anatomy and physiology modules are integral to our learning as nurses. You need to invest in a really good book for these kind of modules. Highly recommend the Ross Wilson books. However, these do not rely solely on one textbook.
This is not enough to pass your A&P modules. By A&P, of course, I mean anatomy and physiology. This is a very big book, and it covers really key topics. However, learning everything in this book does not guarantee that you’re going to get a first or a very high grade in your A&P module.
You need to do further reading. You perhaps need to have additional resources. Something that I had used in addition to this textbook was, in fact, an app which is attached to this textbook.
Book Recommendation 2: First Aid Manual
My second book recommendation is a first aid manual, and this particular book is by First Aid Society, Saint John’s Ambulance, Saint Andrews First Aid, and the British Red Cross. These are reputable charities and first aid societies here in the UK.
And so, this is the book that I invested in when I was in first year. I loved this book. I’ve actually looked after this really well. But it still smells like a new book. And what I love about this book is it covers all of the skills that you need as part of first aid training. So, this is great for all healthcare students, and I think great for anyone. Like, first aid is something we all should, at some point, learn,
not just healthcare professionals. You don’t know when you’re in a situation where you can help someone, and you know, potentially even save their life. The reason why I also bought this book was because part of our training as nurses, we are all first aid trained. And I received first aid training in my first year of university, like, a couple of weeks in, and that was it.
That was the only formal training we had received. And when I think back at it, I really wanted to build more on my knowledge. I felt like that whole day of first aid training wasn’t enough. Then, this was the perfect book for it. So, I really recommend investing in a first aid manual, um, like this one.
- Work as useful means of gaining knowledge as to different specialties within the field of nursing
Give the attending doctor suggestions on how to deal with the patients, prescriptions, whatever treatment plans, and nursing procedure.
Utilizing Nursing Books as Medical Information Sources:
- Literature on nursing presents much detail on a variety of drugs, their uses, effects on the body, and how to administer them.
- They enable one to make the necessary break through regarding pharmacology and drug classifications
- Explain why medications are usually ordered as part of an overall management and treatment regime.
Book Recommendation 3: BNF (British National Formulary)
So, the next book every healthcare student needs to know about, and if you don’t know about it already, don’t worry, I’m here, I will tell you about it, that is the BNF, the British National Formulary. This is very important. We all use this book as a reference guide for medicines. But I’m about to contradict myself: do not actually get the book. But, Sarah, this is a video on book recommendations for nursing school. I know what I said. The BNF, in fact, comes as an electronic version, and you can have all the information of the BNF is in fact in the app. First of all, the app is
- Talk about all the classes of drugs, what they are good for and what adverse effects are most likely to be observed.
- Discuss the theory of calculations about medication and come up with the realistic knowledge of dosage calculations and intravenous therapy and IV drug calculations
- Describe what to include to describe the decisions to identify the effectiveness or adverse reactions of medication.
First of all, the app is free. It’s so much easier to use rather than referencing and going through the book. You simply type in the drug, and it will have the use of the drugs, the contraindications, side effects, and so on. So, yeah, definitely get the app version of this rather than the book. That way, you’ve actually got the most up-to-date reference on your phone, and it’s one less thing to carry in your bag. But, yeah, definitely the BNF. And, of course, to add to it,
you’re probably thinking, “Why on earth do I have the book version of this?” Well, let me explain it to you. As you can see, this is from September 2015 to March 2016. I was gifted this. Yes, the BNF was given to me as a gift, and it was given by a very kind pharmacist in my first year of nursing. So, when I finished my placement, the pharmacist gave me this as a celebration for finishing it, which was very kind of them. And, like, till this date, I have it.
Book Recommendation 4: Succeeding in Essays, Exams, and OSCEs for Nursing Students
My next book recommendation is Succeeding in Essays, Exams, and OSCEs for Nursing Students. So, this book is in fact what I use to help me in my OSCE examination. For those of you who don’t know what OSCEs are, they are called Objective Structured Clinical Examinations that all healthcare professionals will undertake. And in short, they’re basically practical examinations. I,
in fact, made a video on preparing for OSCEs. So, if you are due to have your OSCE at some point in the year, do check out that video. I go into detail about how to prepare for your OSCE exams and a few tips here and there as well. So, do definitely check it out. What I don’t mention in that video is this book. I believe this book does give some really helpful tips. Really, it’s just a guide, and it helped me in my OSCE examination. So, I really recommend investing in this book.
Book Recommendation 5: The Language of Kindness
My last book recommendation, not a textbook, it’s not something that’s recommended by the university, it’s just something that I think every healthcare student definitely at some point read, and especially if you are a nursing student, I highly recommend reading this book, and this is “The Language of Kindness” by Christie Watson. What can I say? I love this book. I love the title.
I love every page of this book. I can’t praise it enough. How well Christie Watson has written this book, she truly captures life as a nurse so perfectly in her book. She makes some amazing references. It makes you want to cry. It makes you want to laugh, and it’s so relatable. And even if you’re not a nursing student, if you really want to gain insight into what nursing life is like as a student and then of course as a registered nurse, this is just perfect. Like, I was reading every page,
and I couldn’t help but feel an emotion attached to that. And that’s really powerful. I felt like at times I was reading myself as a nurse in this book because I could relate so much. You know, her humor is literally… you know, nurses have a bit of a strange humor, like we’ve got a bit of a sarcastic humor, our humor is very interesting, just so to speak, and she just captures it perfectly.
Final Thoughts
If ever Christie Watson ever sees this video, just know I’m like one of your biggest fans. So, that’s all of the book recommendations that I have so far. And it’s not a lot. Studying is very important. We’re so fortunate to be able to have access to these kind of books that help us with our education. And remember, everything that we do as nurses is based on evidence-based practice.
Everything that we do, we have to have a rationale behind it. So, whenever you’re out there in practice, whenever you’re out there in university, use your time wisely, study hard, and you know, do well in your degree, get that qualification, and become the nurse that you know and I know that you are more than capable of becoming one day.
Call to Action
I hope you enjoyed this video. Be sure to like, comment, subscribe, share. Leave in the comments below any further book recommendations you have. Remember to check out my social media platforms, and yeah, that’s it. Stay safe, guys, and I will see you in my next video. Take care.
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