7 Supplies you need to be successful your first semester of nursing school
Of course there are the obvious supplies that you need when starting your first semester of nursing school like your stethoscope, but there are other important supplies that should also be on your shopping list! And I am here to tell you what they are.
Obvious Supplies
- Stethoscope
- When it comes to buying a stethoscope, the most popular brands are MDF Instruments and 3M Littman stethoscopes. Both brands are amazing and it doesn’t really matter which brand you choose. When going into nursing school, it can be tempting to spend a lot of money on a stethoscope with all the cool colors and extra stuff, but that is not necessary. A simple stethoscope will do, but of course get a cute color that represents you! I have the MDF Acoustica Deluxe Lightweight Dual Head Stethoscope in the color fuchsia!
- Scrubs
- Unfortunately, in nursing school you aren’t able to get any color scrubs you want. Your school will require you to get a certain color of scrubs. My school requires white scrubs, which I am not a huge fan of because they get dirty so quickly. I recommend that you get 2-3 pairs of scrubs, so you can rotate as they get dirty.
- Blood Pressure Cuff With a Sphygmomanometer
- You will need to purchase your own blood pressure supplies. It also just a good equipment to have, so you can practice your vitals at home. I bought mine on Amazon at a low price.
- Pen Light and Trauma Shears
- You will definitely need a pen light in clinical and when performing certain assessments. On Amazon I was able to buy my penlights and trauma shears in a pack. Plus, my penlights are pink and purple, so cute!!
What you really need…
Now getting into the good stuff…
- Planner/Organizational Materials
- Nursing school gets very busy, so it is very crucial to have a planner, calendar, or app that will help you stay organized. Between labs, clinical, care plans, and classes it is very important to have your schedule written down somewhere. Having a schedule written down in a planner or calendar will also help you create balance as you adjust to nursing school life and the time that it demands.
- Compression Socks
- Clinical can be long and you will be on your feet for most of it. My first semester of clinical was 6 hours and this upcoming seamster’s clinical is 9 hours long. I didn’t have compression socks last semester. My legs and feet were always killing me a few hours into my clinical shift. Compression socks were high on my supplies list for the upcoming semester. Many nurses and nursing students wear compression socks to help lessen soreness and increase blood circulation in the legs.
- Stethoscope Case
- Not only is a stethoscope case cute, but it is so helpful in keeping you organized! I love my stethoscope case! I keep my stethoscope, alcohol pads, penlights, and trauma shears in there. It is so convenient to have all my clinical equipment in one place and it keeps my stethoscope safe. I have a pink one that matches my stethoscope that I bought from Amazon.
- Clinical Bag
- Having a bag that is specific for clinical will be very beneficial. Last semester, I didn’t have a clinical bag. Having to transfer my materials from bag to bag and not having everything in one space was difficult for me, especially since I had work right after clinical. I made sure to buy one for the upcoming semester. Any tote bag or bag with multiple compartments will suffice. There are cute clinical bags out there too, especially on Etsy, that are nursing themed and personalized.
- Shoes
- Getting comfy shoes is of course very important. You want to make sure you get shoes that will give your feet the support that they need since you will be on your feet a lot. You also want to make sure that the shoes you have are leather and can be cleaned easily! As a nurse/nursing student, you will get fluids on your shoes, so that is very important. I have a pair of Nikes Air Max 90s in white leather and Adidas Stan Smith in white. Make sure to get a pair of shoes that will be comfortable for you and your feet. Plus there are a lot of shoes out there that are made by nurses that are great like Clove, that I really want to try!
- Study Materials
- Of course you will need study materials like notebooks, pens, and highlighters. Your notes as nursing student are everythinggg, so investing in stationary and study materials is needed! Your notes need to last you basically all of nursing school!
- Drug Guide/Study Supplementals
- I definitely recommend getting supplemental materials for studying. For one, you will need a drug guide. It will help you for pharmacology, clinical, and especially care plans. An alternative to buying a drug guide book, is to download an app, like Epocrates. Another supplemental material to have reference cards for clinical that go on your badge reel. They will be very helpful when you need to review something really quick before you see a patient. I have seen people make their own, but I just bought some from Nurse IQ! They are so simple and aesthetically pleasing, but have such vital information! TribeRN is also a great option as well! Lastly, I purchased the Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN book. Every nurse and nursing student recommends this book to use during nursing school to help study for classes, but also getting a head start on the NCLEX. I also have Barbara’s (@yournursingeducator on Instagram) Nursing School Study Guide. It is absolutely amazing and I wish I bought it sooner! Whether you get those materials or not, it will be beneficial to you to have some kind of extra review resource for studying!
If you are going into your first semester of nursing school, good luck! I hope this post helped you in gettin insight into nursing school and what supplies you’ll need!