New Grad Nurse Essentials Guide PDF, Nursing Student Cheat Sheet for Assessments, Vital Signs, Lab Values and Meds

Everything a new grad nurse and nursing student should know, in one calm place.

Starting nursing school or walking into your first orientation is overwhelming because nobody hands you a single place to look things up. This all-in-one guide pulls the essentials together: head to toe assessments, vital sign parameters, lab values, medications and the judgment calls that come up on every shift.

What's inside

• Head to toe assessment, organized by system
• Vital signs with normal ranges and what an abnormal number should make you do next
• Core lab values with normal ranges and critical values
• Common medications, what they do, and what to watch for
• Clinical judgment calls: when to escalate, when to reassess, what to chart
• An NCLEX tip on every page
• Nursing pearls throughout, pulled from 13+ years at the bedside

What you get

• One digital PDF, instant download
• US Letter size, 8.5 x 11 inches
• Print it, put it in a binder, or keep it on your phone or tablet in clinical
• No physical item is mailed. A printed spiral bound version is available separately.

Who this is for

Nursing students in any semester, new graduate nurses on orientation, nurses returning to the bedside after time away, and anyone studying for the NCLEX who wants the clinical side to make sense, not just the test.

Created from real bedside experience

Written by an ED and ICU nurse and former flight paramedic with more than 13 years in emergency medicine. The pearls in this book came from actual shifts, not a textbook.

Personal use license

For individual use only. Print as many copies as you need for yourself. Please do not share, resell, upload, redistribute, or reproduce this for classmates, coworkers, classrooms or orientation materials.

Educational disclaimer

This guide is for education and personal study. It is not a medical order, treatment protocol, or substitute for clinical judgment. Values, medication information and practice standards vary by patient, facility and governing protocol. Always verify against current orders, your facility's policies and your instructors or preceptors.