As a resource for student nurses and newly qualified nurses, we want to share with you the best recommendations which will help you through your course. The twitter accounts we recommend will help you network and the books we share are ones we can personally recommend or others have recommended. If you have any other recommendations, please do let us know through the contact us form!
*This page is still under-construction. Please be patient as we link up all the accounts*
Twitter Accounts we Recommend
@StNurseProject and its members: @DannGooding, @MissLucyMay, @JessLSainsbury, @malestudntnurse, @Ewout1985, @debscooper131, @C_Carmichael83, @lily_parham, @PUNCrachPalmer, @MannersOfMarple, @SchofieldRosie and @Beth_StMidwife
@theRCN, @RCNStudents and your local region/branch of the RCN such as @RCNDerbyshire or @SouthEastRCN
@nmcnews
@NHSEngland and @NHSmillion
@WeNurses and all the sister accounts: @WeParamedics, @WeCYPnurses, @WeMHNurses, @WeLDnurses, @WeHealthVisitor, @WeAHPs, @WeMidwives, @WeGPNs, @WeDocs, @WePharmacists
@FabNHSStuff
@NICEcomms
@ptsafetyNHS – NHS national patient safety team
@ResusCouncilUK
@NurChat
@cochranecollab
@NursingSUni, @BCUAdultNursing, @SHUAdultNursing and other university accounts.
@CareQualityComm and @CQCProf

Book Recommendations for Adult Nursing
1. The Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures
This will be your bible throughout the 3 year course! If you only buy one book, definitely make it this one. There are student and professional editions, I (Toni) have the student one and it has helped me so much throughout first year.
2. A good a&p book. A lot of people recommend Ross & Wilson, others like Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology. Have a look at a few in the library to see which style you like before you buy one.
3. The Transforming Nursing Practice Series. These are a number of titles covering most things you will cover in assignments and explain things in a way that everybody can understand. I (Toni) have a few of these and would definitely recommend them.
4. Care Planning: a guide for nurses
5. Critical Care Nursing Made Incredibly Easy! This one is more specific to an area of nursing but is very useful if you are considering a career in critical care or you have a placement coming up. I (Abigail) would recommend this book and have found it useful myself through placements.
A must have for referencing! This book contains numerous styles of referencing and covers everything you could ever wish to reference. There is a website but this is useful if you prefer books over websites.
7. Transition into Nursing: Preparation for Practice
Written by Bill Whitehead and Michelle Brown from UoD. Aimed at students in year 3, containing advice about the last year of university and going into your first position as a NQN.
8. The Student Nurse’s Guide to Successful Reflection
Written by Nicola Clarke from BCU, this book is easy to read and a great guide to student nurses on how to reflect effectively.
9. Calculation Skills for Nurses
Part of the Student Survival Skills series, I (Toni) have found this book really useful for learning the calculations involved in nursing. Easy to read and follow, the other books in the series are great as well.
A pocket guide to provide information to student nurses around their first clinical placements. You can read founding STNP member Toni’s review here.
11. Understanding Research for Nursing Students
We used this throughout year 1 and it really helped me to grasp what ethics was in regards to nursing.
13. Ethics for Nursing and Healthcare Practice
14. Doing a Literature Review in Health and Social Care: A Practical Guide
Book recommendations for Children’s Nursing
Lucy was asked by a first-year nurse if I could recommend a drug calculation book for her and this made me think about what other books I would recommend to a first year starting their student nursing journey. (Please note, we are not endorsed by any publishing companies and I do not receive any payment for these recommendations). Obviously, there are other books for specific essays that you will be set, these are just a good starting point
General children’s nursing text books
1. The Great Ormond Street Hospital Manual of Children’s Nursing Practices
This book is a little bit like the Marsden but for children’s nursing, full of procedure and guidance.
2. A Textbook of Children’s and Young Peoples Nursing
Many of us in our group think that this is practically our bible, it gives an excellent overview on so many subjects.
3. Practices in Children’s Nursing
4. Children and Young People’s Nursing. Principles for Practice
The next three are all pharmacology related. I don’t think I could have got through my exams without them!
5. Essentials of Pharmacology for Nurses
6. Nurses! Test yourself in Pharmacology
7. Nursing Pharmacology Made Incredibly Easy!
Drug Calculations
8. Passing Calculations Tests in Nursing.
It’s simple to use and full of practice questions.
Book recommendations for Mental Health Nursing
1. Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing: The craft of caring
2. Assessment and Decision Making in Mental Health Nursing
3. Physical Health and Well-Being in Mental Health Nursing
4. The Art and Science of Mental Health Nursing: Principles And Practice
6. Fundamentals of Mental Health Nursing
7. Critical Thinking and Reflection for Mental Health Nursing Students
8. Medicines Management in Mental Health Nursing
Recommended by @JeepersMcCoy
Book recommendations for Learning Disabilities Nursing
1.Learning Disability Nursing:Modern Day Practice
2. Oxford Handbook of Learning and Intellectual Disability Nursing
4. Safeguarding Adults in Nursing Practice
Other recommendations for nursing students
Fiction/Non-fiction book recommendations from the STNP team.
Nurse! Nurse! A student nurses story
A true first person account of Jimmy Fraziers’ time as a mature student nurse and all the different departments he encounters on placements. Funny and thought provoking.
Blood, sweat and tea followed by More blood, more sweat and another cup of tea
Two books published from the Random Acts of Reality blog by ‘Tom Reynolds’ – the pseudonym of Brian Kellett – a nurse and emergency medical technician.
Dr Tony Copperfield writes about the working life of a british GP. Perfect for anyone who has ever wanted to know what truly happens in a GP surgery.
Michael Alexander talks about working life in a boarding school, situated in the French Alps. A good insight into the role of a school nurse.
Emergency admissions, memoirs of an ambulance driver
Kit Wharton gives us an insight into the day to day job of a paramedic.
Nee Naw takes you on a tour into the role of a ambulance dispatcher. From taking the first calls after a terrorist attack to delivering a baby over the phone, Suzi Brent describes her role with the perfect mix of emotions. You can read the archived Nee Naw blog by Suzi Brent here.
Where does it hurt?: What the Junior Doctor did next
Max Pemperton is in his second year of medicine, out of the wards and working on the streets in an outreach project. This is his account of working with patients dealing with drug and alcohol addictions.
What happens to your body when you leave it to medical science? Mary Roach is a journalist who has travelled the world to discover the answer to this question.
A great guide on how to get onto and how to survive a nursing degree. Suitable for any nursing student, this book covers a wide range of topics such as placements, dealing with stress and how to create a portfolio.
Still Alice is the moving story of a woman with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Still Alice has recently been made into a film starring Julianne Moore. Written by neurologist Lisa Genova.