There are many challenges and difficulties associated with nursing school. One of the most annoying things I remember about my nursing education was the 100 pounds of books. I had to lug that enormous piles of non-fiction back and forth to class, clinicals, my car, my home, and anywhere else I might need to have access to them. It was a literal pain in the neck. I saw nursing students get so creative when it came to carrying their books. I saw them using rolling carts, rolling luggage, and one girl even used a Radio Flyer wagon!
However, the days of book-loaded wagons can (and should) come to an end. Nearly every book you need for your nursing education can be downloaded in an electronic format that can be easily accessed from your computer or mobile device. In fact, Skyscape (who I have partnered with to create this post) have created the FREE Skyscape Medical Library app which allows you to download over 100 nursing books right on your smartphone. Not only does this make them more accessible and more easily searched, it can also save you 35%, or more, off the regular price of those books.
The Skyscape Medical Library app comes loaded with a few useful resources including: Skyscape Rx, Skyscape Clinical Consult (includes a Signs and Symptoms Index), and Skyscape Clinical calculator. The app has many innovative and helpful features including:
- Smartsearch: search across all Skyscape resources installed on device for term, disease, drug, etc. Search result shows topic and which resource it is found in with quick link to that information
- Smartlinking: cross-reference disease topic to related drug in the drug resource installed on device, using smartlink (which appears as a paperclip icon in tool bar)
- Bookmarks: great for studying or to keep frequently used topics or lists handy for reference
- History: automatically tracks what topics you’ve looked up
- Embedded pronunciations, videos, images (pronunciations and Videos require WiFi)
- Embedded dosing calculators: via Davis’s Drug Guide for Nurses
- Calculators: Skyscape Clinical Calculator, Taber’s see Calculator index
The free resources included in the app are a great start, but you can also download over 400 titles. I personally recommend the Nursing Constellation Plus package for nurses and nursing students because it contains 6 essential resources for nursing students.
- Davis’s Drug Guide for Nurses
- Davis’s Comprehensive Handbook of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests with Nursing Implications
- RNotes®: Nurse’s Clinical Pocket Guide
- Diseases and Disorders: A Nursing Therapeutics Manual
- Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 22nd edition
- Skyscape Clinical Calculator PLUS™
Purchased separately these books would cost $247, but bought through this bundle you are able to purchase all of them for $179.95. You’ll have access to this content from any Android or IPhone. You can also access much of the content on any computer at http://webview.skyscape.com.