So you got into grad school...

OSU's new graduate-entry nursing program is getting lists of stuff they should buy before the beginning of Autumn so I thought I'd throw out some information they'd want.

I know they send you a list of nursing supplies you need. Here's my take on it: DON'T ORDER FROM THEM. It's way too expensive and their supplies aren't always the best.

In my nursing kit, here's what I have:

Stethoscope: I got a free Prestige Medical one that works really well, except one of the ear pieces keeps falling out. So, I boutght a Littmann Lightweight II S.E. Stethoscope. Supposedly there's some kind of advantage to the $180 Littmann, but I've never used one and I'm about the fastest person in my class at finding blood pressures. (I started out with a $12 stethoscope I bought at OSU's medical store, (now out of business.) Go to Allheart and look at what they have. Often, they have buy-one, get-one-free sales. Talk to you classmates about splitting that.

Also, if you want my old stethoscope, (a really nice one,) post a message with your e-mail and I'll give it to you.

Make sure you get one with a bell and a membrane. There are a lot that only have the bell, (they fake the membrane,) and the technique is going to be too much of a hassle if you've never taken a blood pressure or listened for heart/lung sounds.

Finally, a reiteration, no expensive stethoscope is really worth it while you're in school. As an example, the Playschool stethoscope many kids had as children will work pretty well.

Pens: They don't tell you to have this, but it should go without question. I went to Staples last fall and paid about $3 for about 20 clicky pens. However you take notes, always use ballpoint for nursing notation. (Smearing is really bad.)

Reflex Hammer: I used it Autumn quarter and haven't since. It's good to have one and practice the skill, but I don't think you'll use it after your first quarter. Find an older grad. student and borrow theirs, or look on e-bay.

Sharpies: Not something they request, but you'll need these. Not for anything specific, but trust me, you'll need one when you don't have it.

A lot of nurses favor the tiny sharpies because they can hang them around their neck. I don't.

Penlight: You'll use this about once a week or so in clinical. (At least I do, but I think it's fun to was the equally-reactive-to-light reflex. The nurses I work with use them every day, a few times a day. You can use any penlight. You might want to go with one that you can click and not one you twist, (like a Mag Light. Usually I love Mag Lights, but not for this.) You need to be able to turn it on for two seconds, turn it off and put it away for the rest of the day.

A compass/EKG calipers: I've never used mine, but I see real nurses use them at work. There's no reason to buy expensive ones. As for the name, map readers call them compasses, if you're looking for them on-line.

Hemostats: I've never used mine. Every unit has them. Maybe I'll need it during my ICU rotation, but they have them too.

Bandage Scissors: You will use them, but Winter, not Autumn. No pair is any better than any other.

Blood pressure cuff: But a cheap one of these. I bought the cheapest one that had a case and I use it to carry all my clinical stuff. I acutally don't use it at all this quarter, but I own one. I just looked, they don't have mine any more where I bought mine, but they're still sort of cheap.

Notepads: I use a Moleskin Reporter Notebook. I use Moleskine everything though. Mine's actually a little too big, but it works great for me. You can do much better.

Scrubs: Not really a part of my nursing kit, but very important. I didn't get mine from the school store. Here's what you need: buy scrub tops with a breast pocket and two hand pockets. Buy scrub pants with pockets lower on the leg. This is what I have at work and it's great. My school scrubs are missing the hand pockets on the top and I regret that often. The golden rule with scrubs is more pockets are better.

If you order from All Heart, their shipping sucks, but their prices are great. Just make sure you get yours in the right color, (true red.)

Also, make sure they tie at the waist. You'll really regret spending half your time at clinical pulling up your pants if you go with the elastic waistband. Zippers are a bad idea too.

You should have at least two pairs. Three would be ideal.

PDA: *Sigh* I've got one. It's a Palm. It works. I may have a Pocket PC for sale cheap soon. I hate it, but it's sort of useful if you ever go to any Ohio Health hospitals for clinical. Otherwise, it's only worth it when it's not around.

Here are two sites where you can find electronics cheaply.

Randomly, if you get an iPhone, (not cheap, but so worth it,) you might not need one. That's not an official announcement from the College of Nursing or anything, but it's coming.

Stay tuned in the coming days for more information about what other supplies you'll need and for some tech stuff. (My next post is about buying a laptop so it's going to be my most expensive.)