My Nursing School Supply Recommendations

I was certainly that girl in Health Assessment who tried to save money by buying inexpensive items. That didn't work out well. Sometimes when it comes to nursing items that you're going to be using for years in the hospital setting, it is best to save and splurge than spend and suffer.

I bought two inexpensive stethoscopes before I finally bought my Littmann. You could barely hear anything out of my first inexpensive stethoscope, while my second one literally had a tubing rip the second day that I used it. 

When it comes to stethoscopes, spending approximately $80 once is much better than spending $80 on inexpensive items that keep breaking. 

 I recommend a Littmann Stethoscope.

I definitely recommend getting a  stethoscope with a separate bell and diaphragm that you can flip to instead of having one piece that you twist. 




Thankfully, the other items I needed for health assessment were inexpensive and not difficult to find. 

The other nursing essential item that you'll need to purchase is a penlight.  

I think that the two-pack of penlights are a great deal! I have had mine for multiple semesters and I have not had an issue with it working. There a few inexpensive brands that do not work well at all. 


I also recommend only keeping the batteries in your penlight during the semester so you don't run into any battery problems when your not using them!

The worst thing that could happen is you find out your pen light has been clicked on for days and now you are in need of a battery at 5am in the hospital lobby.





Scissors are also super easy to find and an item that can be very personalized. 

 These scissors aren't necessarily the prettiest out there, but they definitely get the job done. I have a pair of these exact scissors and they hold up against some pretty intense wound dressings.















A blood pressure cuff is the last thing that you'll need for your nursing school journey 

For me, properly getting a manual blood pressure reading was a little more difficult. I remember the days in lab when I would practice on my partner and get so frustrated when I couldn't hear the first beat right away. However, I think that keeping up the skill of accurately getting a  manual blood pressure cuff is a skill that should be kept up with. Yes, there are automatic cuffs, but you never know what will happen during your shift. I once saw a patient that had such low blood pressure that the automatic cuff would not read it properly, prompting the nurse to do it the "Old fashioned way".  Getting an accurate reading is so important when you are dealing with patients and vital sign changes, so getting a good manual cuff is equally as important as knowing how to use one!




I hope that this post was informative in helping you pick out the best nursing school tools for your journey! Click on the highlighted links to be directed to the Amazon page that they are sold on. I was that girl using her step-dad's prime membership when I needed to get my stethoscope before class the next week. 


- Michelle
#BSNbabe
I am an amazon associate