Kit
What to buy for vocational nursing school
The short list a first term asks for, grouped by when you will need it. Each card links to the exact product on Amazon, where the current price is shown, and every link is an affiliate link.
5 items
For the exam
Buy the review book early and work through it across the whole program, not in the fortnight before you test. The April 2026 test plan is the current blueprint, so check the edition.
The main NCLEX-PN review book
Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-PN® Examination
The book most programs build their exit review around. Buy the current edition: the test plan changed in April 2026 and an older edition is drilling a retired blueprint.
Check price on AmazonA second question bank
NCLEX-PN Prep Plus: 2 Practice Tests + Proven Strategies + Online + Video...
Worth having a second source of questions written by a different team. Doing 2,000 questions from one book teaches you that book's habits.
Check price on AmazonFlash cards for dead time
Saunders Q&A Review Cards for the NCLEX-PN Examination
The only study format that survives a 20-minute bus ride. Lab values and pharmacology are the two decks that repay the effort.
Check price on AmazonPharmacology, separately
My Nurse Notes Pharmacology Flashcards for NCLEX - 99 Color-Coded Study Cards...
Pharmacological therapies is 10 to 16 per cent of the exam and it is the section students most often underestimate.
Check price on AmazonLab values on a card
Lab Value Reference Card: Quick Clinical Guide, Fits Horizontal & Vertical...
Normal ranges come up in questions that look like they are about something else. A badge card is the version you will actually consult on shift.
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9 items
For clinical
Your program will give you a required list and it wins over anything here. This is the set that turns up on almost every one of them.
A stethoscope that lasts
3M Littmann Classic III Monitoring Stethoscope, 5620, More Than 2X as Loud...
The default for a reason. If your program has a specific requirement, follow it; otherwise this is the one you will still be using in five years.
Check price on AmazonA cheaper stethoscope
3M Littmann Lightweight II S.E. Stethoscope, 2450, 28" Black Tube
Lighter and cheaper, fine for blood pressures and general assessment. Harder work for faint heart sounds.
Check price on AmazonPenlight with a pupil gauge
Primacare DL-9223 Pack of 6 Disposable Diagnostic Penlight with Imprinted Pupil...
Buy two. The first one goes missing in the first month and you need one on you for every neuro check.
Check price on AmazonBandage scissors
North American Rescue Trauma Shear (7 1/4 Inch) NAR Premium Grade Black Safety...
Cheap, immediately useful, and the item most often borrowed and not returned. Put your name on them.
Check price on AmazonSomewhere to put all of it
Nurse Fanny Pack with Tape Holder, SITHON Multi Compartment Medical Gear Pocket...
Scrub pockets do not hold a stethoscope, shears, penlight, pens and tape at once. A pouch is the difference between prepared and rummaging.
Check price on AmazonRetractable badge reel
Funny Turtle Nurse Badge Reel, Cute Retractable Work Badge Holder
You will badge in and out dozens of times a shift. A reel saves the lanyard-over-the-patient problem.
Check price on AmazonA notebook that survives a shift
Thboxes 6-Pack Waterproof Pocket Notebook, 3" x 5" Top Spiral Small Notepad
Report sheets get wet, sat on and lost. Never write anything on it that identifies a patient, and shred it at the end of the shift.
Check price on AmazonManual blood pressure cuff
PARAMED Aneroid Sphygmomanometer - Manual Blood Pressure Cuff with Universal...
Skills labs test manual technique, and machines fail. Practise on family until the reading is repeatable.
Check price on AmazonPulse oximeter
Zacurate 500 Series Fingertip Pulse Oximeter Blood Oxygen Saturation Monitor...
Useful for practice and cheap. Be aware of the documented accuracy problems on darker skin: it is a trend tool, not the whole assessment.
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4 items
For the shift
The part nobody warns you about. Twelve hours on hard floors is the reason experienced nurses spend real money on socks and shoes and nothing on anything else.
Compression socks
LEVSOX Cotton Compression Socks for Women Men 20-30 mmHg Knee High Cute Support...
The single purchase most nurses say they should have made sooner. Twelve hours standing is a circulatory problem, not a comfort preference.
Check price on AmazonShoes for a twelve-hour shift
Jacata Non Slip Nursing Work Shoes for Women Water Slip Resistant Leather Slip...
Slip resistant and washable matters more than brand. Buy them early enough to break in before your first clinical.
Check price on AmazonScrubs
COZYFIT Scrubs for Women Set - V-Neck Top & Straight Leg Pants, Black, M
Check your program's required colour before buying anything. Schools are specific about it and will send you home.
Check price on AmazonFolding clipboard
Nursing Clipboard Foldable Clipboard Medical: Edition Cheat Sheets Aluminum 3...
Holds the shift's paperwork and gives you a hard surface anywhere. The ones printed with reference charts are worth the extra pound or two.
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4 items
To keep on the shelf
Two or three books you will still open in your first year of work.
Drug guide
Davis's Drug Guide for Nurses
The reference you actually open on shift. Get the current edition; drug information ages badly.
Check price on AmazonCare plan reference
Nursing Care Plans: Diagnoses, Interventions, and Outcomes
Care plan assignments are the part of the course most students lose time to. A reference with worked examples pays for itself in the first term.
Check price on AmazonMedical terminology
Medical Terminology: A Short Course
If you are coming in without a healthcare background, this is the gap that makes lectures hard. Close it before term one, not during.
Check price on AmazonDosage calculation practice
Dosage Calculations Made Incredibly Easy! (Incredibly Easy! Series®)
Programs fail people on medication maths, often with a 90 per cent pass mark and limited attempts. Practise it separately from everything else.
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