ASU Nursing Textbooks: Where to Buy and Sell Used
ASU nursing textbooks can run $1,000+ per semester. Here's how students actually save money — used copies, rentals, and peer marketplaces.
Nursing Textbooks Are Expensive. Like, Really Expensive.
If you're in ASU's College of Nursing and Health Innovation, you already know that your textbook list reads like a small car payment. Lewis's Medical-Surgical Nursing alone runs $160–200 new. Add Fundamentals of Nursing, a pharmacology text, and a clinical skills lab manual, and you're looking at $800–1,200 for a single semester if you buy everything retail.
You don't have to. Here's what nursing students at ASU actually do.
ASU List Is Worth Checking First
ASU List is a free, student-run marketplace for Sun Devils. Nursing textbooks come up regularly — search by course number (NUR 302, NUR 403, BIO 201) or title. Since ASU's nursing program is cohort-based, whole groups of students finish a class at the same time and want to offload their books fast.
The best window to find nursing textbooks is the two weeks before the semester starts. Set a search alert or check back daily — good listings move quickly.
Know Which Books You Actually Need
Here's something your nursing advisor might not say loudly enough: not every book on the required list is actually required in practice. In the first week of class, most professors will tell you which chapters they'll pull from and whether the textbook is really tested or just "recommended."
Before you buy anything, wait one week. Talk to students a year ahead of you in the cohort. They know which books you never open.
The Cohort System Works in Your Favor
ASU's nursing program moves in cohorts — you have the same classmates moving through the same sequence of courses. That's a built-in buy/sell network. Your NUR 302 classmates from last semester have exactly the books you need for NUR 403 this semester.
Create a group text or Discord with your cohort explicitly for textbook swaps. It works better than any marketplace because there's built-in trust — you know these people.
Older Editions Are Often Fine
Nursing publishers release new editions constantly, mostly with minor updates. Lewis's Medical-Surgical Nursing 11th vs. 10th edition: the pharmacology is slightly updated, some chapters are reorganized, page numbers differ. That's mostly it.
Check with your professor before relying on an older edition, but many will confirm that last edition is acceptable. That drops the price from $180 to $30–40 used.
Clinical Manuals and Lab Workbooks: Be Careful
For lab skills manuals and clinical workbooks, there's more risk in older editions because procedures get updated for safety and accreditation reasons. For these specific books, try to get the current edition — but buy used. Many students barely write in them.
Check the inner cover carefully when buying used — write-in completion matters less than you'd think for most sections, but skills checklists that are already filled out can be annoying.
Renting vs. Buying Nursing Textbooks
Renting works well for nursing textbooks you know you'll never reference again — introductory courses in your first year, for example. But for core clinical references like pharmacology guides, many nurses keep those books post-graduation.
If there's any chance you'll use it as a working reference, buy used and sell after. You'll come out ahead financially and you can actually annotate it.
ATI and NCLEX Prep Books
ATI materials are required through ASU's nursing program — you don't have much choice there, and most of that is digital through your cohort fee anyway. For NCLEX prep books (Saunders, Prioritization Delegation & Assignment), buy used. NCLEX content doesn't change dramatically year to year, and a used copy with someone else's highlights is often more helpful than a blank one.
These show up regularly on ASU List and at Half Price Books on Apache Boulevard in Tempe.
Where to Sell When You're Done
Post on ASU List at the end of the semester. Be specific: include the edition, ISBN, and condition in your listing. Nursing students search by ISBN constantly because edition matters.
List at least 20% below the current Amazon used price to move it fast. A book that sells for $40 beats a book that sits in your closet for three years and then goes to Goodwill.
Ready to buy or sell?
Join thousands of ASU students on the marketplace built for Sun Devils.