Things to do before the real stuff begins

Hi! I am just about finishing my pre-requisites this year and am going to be starting real nursing classes this fall. Are there any good things to be reading/doing before starting the real stuff? Are there any books anyone recommends reading for motivation/inspiration or for planning? Would a subscription to a monthly nursing journal be helpful? A teacher once gave me chicken soup for the nurses soul and I really enjoyed it. A review here might do me better than the reviews on amazon and such. Thanks!
someone suggest i move this thread from the students section for answers from already established nurses. thanks for your help!

Read all of your favorite books. You won't have time for it in nursing school.

Um, yeah, although this might not be what you had in mind...Enjoy your summer. Do not spend it reading textbooks and the like. You have enough to come and while I *totally* get the concept that you want to get to it, because that is what I'm like...take this chance now to read fiction and watch movies, because it took me months after school was over to be able to sit and watch a movie without thinking I had something else to do. It took several months for me to read and enjoy fiction for the same reason, and also because my brain was in such a high drive it couldn't enjoy anything. So if you just have to read something nursing related, at least make it simple..."stories from my time in the hole" or whatever. Or watch old episodes of Scrubs (they may be silly and make you laugh, but honest to god I remembered test questions from out of that show, plus they are surprisingly realistic when it comes to "life lessons" on making it through health care, and some of the "personalities" you will encounter).

I just finished my first semester of nursing school. I agree with the others that you should take some time to do things you enjoy, but I would also make sure to brush up on my A & P and Micro too. It helped me tremendously to come in to the program with a good strong understanding of those subjects, especially anything related to the inflammation response and sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Even if you just find some fill in the blank anatomy pictures online I think it is important. You don't have time to relearn what you should already know.

just relax!

Just relax and have fun!! I tried getting ahead the summer before I started and wish I would have spent more time having fun because you wont have time for it during school. Trust me you will have time for everything during your classes so long as you dont procrastinate.

I have one more year of school left. I have a subscription to Nursing 2010, although that will soon be changing its name to Nursing 2011. I enjoy it it comes monthly and it always seems to correlate with something I am talking about either in class or clinical. I agree with the other posters you will be BUSY in school, but try to remember you have to have fun and have a life don't let school control your life.....It will if you let it and I can tell you from seeing people at my school, those who let school stress them out perform at a subpar level then those of us who make sure we set aside time for ourselves.....go to the gym, go out for coffee, go to the bar, go out with your bf/gf, husband/wife, spend time with your kids, whatever just remember to get wild and step away from you studies once and a while.....your body and your grades will love you for it!:heartbeat Congrats on starting school soon

How to Survive Clinical.That book really gave me a push back out the front door in the morning when I was feeling down and doomed as if I couldn't do it. Amazon.com: How to Survive Clinical: Advice from the Nursing Students and Teachers Who Have Been There (9781427798220): Diann Martin: Books

I would tell anyone invest in a good pharmacology book and start at least reading about these, even if you don't understand it all, at least look at the basic action of the drug, side effects & how it's given. Also look at Youtube for nursing videos re giving meds, doing IVs, etc. I've had feedback from new nurses who found the meds part overwhelming and following advice by doing pre-study really helped them with their meds. And also learn the most common meds given as well.

Relax, have fun, read novels! Do fun things w/ your friends and family. Go to movies and out to dinner. These are the things you WON'T be doing once you start ns.

If you do want to read a nursing book, then take it to read on a vacation somewhere. Now is the time for things like travel and vacations.

I disagree with the notion of "take time to relax." There's plenty of time for that later. Personally, I think studying medical terminology and some of the basics of pharmacology (major drug classes, etc) was helpful. Starting some pathophysiology while your basic physio is still fresh would also be of benefit.