Top 8+ Essentials for Nursing School

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Nursing school is around the corner and we could all use some new back to school supplies. These are important supplies that you should start adding to your shopping list ASAP. Continue reading for the list of the top 8+ essentials for nursing school. Trust me, you won’t regret any of these purchases!

As nursing school continues, I love shopping for new supplies to kick start my motivation and daily habits. Most of these items are recent purchases and have made such a difference on a daily use.

1. Planner

I highly recommended that every student uses a planner. Whether it be a physical planner or a digital one, just try it. An organized planner helps with time-management and productivity. You can use it daily, weekly, and/or monthly. During the first week of classes you should set some time to write down all the important school dates so you know what to expect. Between all the labs, classes, and clinical rounds, it is very important to have your schedule implemented somewhere. Using a planner, calendar, or app will help you create a balance as you adjust to your time demanding nursing school life.

I improved my time-management when I started using Google Calendar to schedule out important school exam/assignment dates. I use a physical weekly calendar to organize my work, study and miscellaneous tasks. Anyone else love that feeling of completing a task/errand and putting a ~~strikethrough~~? So satisfying.

Links to my favourite weekly undated planners are below.

2. Nurse Reference Cards

Are you starting clinical placement and would like a set of cheat cards to make your shift easier? These mini reference cards are perfect for new grads and nursing students to clip with their badge. The mini pocket-sized cards contain useful information incase you suddenly blank out during clinical rounds. You can quickly glance at these mini cheat sheets any time you need a little help on the unit.

I recently added these cards to my collection and I can’t wait to use them! I purchased the 15 card bundle from nurse-iq.com. The Tribe RN also sells a 26 card bundle for around the same price. Both sets contain vital information to help you through nursing school and clinical rotations.

3. Blue Light Glasses

Prolonged blue light screen time can damage your eyes overtime leading to faster visual degeneration. As millennials, we use our electronic devices on the daily for hours. With the addition of online classes and assignments, we spend more countless hours staring at bright screen. This screen time can cause eye strain, fatigue, blurred vision and headaches.

Anti-blue light glasses and filters protect the eyes by reducing eye strain and fatigue allowing for better concentration and alertness. Most blue-light glasses are non-prescription based, so anyone can purchase a pair. If you hate glasses, you can also dim all your electronic screens or utilize the blue light filters.

I wear my blue light glasses all the time when using my laptop for school essays and online readings. You will notice such a difference when you start wearing anti-blue light glasses. A real life saver for laptop and tablet users!

4. Laptop Stand and/or Phone Stand

This is a simple yet so useful essential that will benefit all laptop users. You can avoid back and neck pain by using an adjustable laptop stand. Fix your posture and comfort view by raising your device’s screen to eye-level. They are foldable, adjustable, portable, and lightweight for easy storage and carrying. Super easy to use and set up! Your laptop won’t slide off or overheat with their ventilation and supportive grip.

The cell phone stand also helps avoid any neck/eye strain and compliments the laptop stand. You can multi-task on both devices without fatiguing any muscles. Both these stands made my school life easier since I could view both screens at comfortable angle. It also created extra space beneath for additional papers. Your study space will look so sleek and organized with these two!

5. Mineral Sunscreen with Zinc Oxide

Applying sunscreen should be a daily habit (rain or shine) for everyone by now. Laptop, tablet, and cell-phone screens can harm skin even while indoors. The prolonged blue light exposure from mobile devices and computer screens can cause skin and eye damage. Besides the blue-light filter/glasses, everyone should include a mineral based sunscreen to their skincare routine for additional skin protection.

Zinc oxide is the specific ingredient to help protect the skin against UV and HEV light (High Energy Visible), aka blue light. Look for mineral sunscreens with high amounts of zinc or iron oxide for the best skin protection.

6. Portable Phone Charger

During clinical rounds I always kept my portable phone charger in my locker. Whether I go to work, school, or placement, I always keep a fully charged battery pack ready in case I ever need it. I barely use my phone during placement because it gets super busy but I do need it for errands post shift.

A personal charger pack is safer than plugging your phone into an outlet on the unit. When I do charge my phone I keep it in my scrub pocket, so it’s safe with me at all times.

7. Clip-on Watch

Every student needs an analog watch for clinical rounds. Compared to wrist watches, these brooch watches harbour less bacteria. FOB watches clip-on easily to uniforms and don’t interfere with patient care. These watches are easy to use and clean.

I love wearing the silicon clip-on watches because they’re more light weight and easier to sterilize. The silicone watch also includes a glow pointer for night shifts. Both watches are waterproof on a daily use (not submerged).

8. Stationary Supplies

I’ve compiled a list of the best stationary items to add to your study corner:

Dry erase blank cards

Dry erase index cards make studying and mini note taking fun. This is an eco-friendly way of studying and saving paper cards. They are easy to write on and can be used many times. I use these cards for mini reminders and study notes.

Highlighters

My friends and I love these highlighters for school and everyday use. The 15 variety pack is the best for multi-coloured notes. They’re high quality and water-resistant. The Midliner pack is dual ended with a fine bullet tip for note taking as well.

Paper Notebooks

I handwrite most of my study notes on paper. I also colour co-ordinate the notebook based on class. Writing my own notes helps me understand the concept stronger than compared to typing them all out. Whether you write them down or type them out, investing in the proper study materials is necessary to passing exams. Your notes need to last you all of nursing school and beyond.

I hope this list helps you add more items to your shopping list for the new semester. These top 8+ essentials for nursing school will help you study and focus better than before. Now it’s time to focus on our studies and acing our nursing exams, assignments, and skills check offs!

Check back on my blog for more nursing related content!