Attention all nurses/doctors/those in the medical field!
My girlfriend just got into nursing school and will be starting in January, so I figured that some supplies would make a nice Christmas gift. Too bad I have no idea what a nursing student really needs.
Reading around a bit, some ideas are:
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A PDA. You can store medical references and other stuff to help you out. Any idea what PDA to get (Palm/PocketPC/other)? What options are really useful?
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Software for said PDA. Doing a quick search, I found several dozen that look useful. Which ones are the best?
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Digital audio recorder. To record lectures and store them on the PDA.
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The school lists a few things that are required (stethoscope, penlight, nursing scissors, etc.) Any brands to recommend or avoid?
Are these good ideas, or just the stuff that gets put on lists but isn’t really used by the students when they’re in class?
Any other recommendations would be great, thanks everyone!
I’d recommend a Littman stethoscope. They’re a little pricer, but worth it.
She doesn’t need the higher-end cardiology or electronic models, just a basic stethoscope to get started.
She’ll need a watch with a second hand. One with a lighted face would be extra nice.
ETA: I work for nursing instructors. I’ve never seen a student use a PDA. Recording lectures isn’t a bad idea, but if she takes good notes and reads the material, she might not use it. Who wants to hear a lecture twice?
Congratulations to your girlfriend !hightechburrito
We weren’t allowed to record lectures, but if she’s a auditory learner she can record her own notes and listen to them in the car. Several of my friends did this.
You can buy the penlight, pocket organizers, four color pens in shops that sell scrubs. Find out what uniforms she’ll need for clinicals. Some other suggestions are a blood pressure cuff, a nice organizer bag, drug cards (mine are Mosby’s nursing drug cards), good supportive shoes, a clipboard that holds papers, and nursing care plan books. A plain, easily-read watch with a red sweep second hand is great, too. She will also be spending an incredible amount of money on books, so a gift card to a bookstore would be very useful.
One of my friends recently finished her CNP and posted this two-part post on her blog called “Things Every Nursing Student Should Have.” Most of the stuff has been mentioned here but I’ve been told it’s a good read.
Nice hand cream! Alcohol hand rub and constant handwashing are not nice to your hands.
I’ve been using my Littman S.E. II for the last 6 years. It’s great.
You can get nurses watches that come in brightly coloured plastic that can be taken off and cleaned like this- they are the new hot product with the nurses I work with.
Based on my recent internet research, nurses need really high stiletto heel shoes, white stockings and garters, and, of course, underwear/brassiere is optional.
Who am I kidding? Those things are totally unnecessary.
