In the beginning of most nurses starting a new job they will be tested about certain drugs and skills that are required for the job. In the culture of todays nurses they will pull out their handy iphone or smart phone to use an app gathering the information they need.
In the class room setting as I was preparing the new employees for the 80 question test, I placed nursing drug books on the table, not assuming everyone had a phone app to use. The first question asks before the test started “Can I use my iphone.”
In the old policy and procedures of hospitals around the United States cells phones were to be used on 15 min breaks and lunch. Now that the smart phones are becoming part of a normal day, and used by almost 53% of the population, nurses and doctor are no different. More than 75% of doctors use a smart phone.
In a interview by the Information Week Healthcare: “The common thread is that physicians in all specialties–especially more recent graduates–are relying more and more on modern technology to advance their concern to provide medical care more efficiently, cost effectively, and ‘creatively’ through digital instruments that are readily available,” Edward McEachern, Jackson & Coker’s VP of marketing, told InformationWeek Healthcare. “What this indicates in terms of future trends is that mobile device manufacturers and companies that supply app solutions are well aware of the growing market in the healthcare field for their products and services.”
As the social media smart phone curve grows into a more detailed and defined technology our health care system is going to see the rise in uses of smart phones, and Ipad in the job setting. Policies will have to be revised to include the information access to the staff searching for the fastest and most accurate sources of information. Taking the time to find a current dated drug book and flip through the pages to find the contradiction for a medication can take 10 minutes, or the nurse can pull out her smart phone type in the information she needs and have it on hand in less than a minute with up to date information.
Listed below are some of the top rated and most used apps that nurses have on their smart phone and ipad:
Nursing Central – drug guide, medical / nursing information, medical dictionary
Merck manual – medical info
Unbound medicine apps – nursing Dx apps (NANDA stuff), patient assessment apps
Clinical Evidence app – for evidence based procedure information
MediMath – 220 medical and nursing calculations
Eye Chart Pro – instant eye exams, and yes I have used it and it confirmed a problem
ColorTest – color blindness tests – used it on a patient as well
3D Brain – use this for patient education
Verbally – used this on a stroke patient as a communication device
NCLEX quiz cards
The Skyscape Nursing Constellation Plus App is great, a bit costly but extremely helpful.
the app includes:
Davis’s Drug Guide for Nurses
RNotes: Nurse’s Clinical Pocket Guide
Diseases and Disorders: A Nursing Therapeutics Manual
Davis’s Comprehensive Handbook of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests With Nursing Implications
Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 21st edition
Archimedes 360°™ Medical Calculator
MedAlert – Medical Alerts and Clinical Summaries
MedStream – Skyscape’s dynamic medical information channels1
Medline1,2,3
Pages – word processing
GoodReader – best PDF and document reader out there
keynote – use for patient education slideshows I create for diseases, etc
Join the voice of other nurses
Angela was voted 110th Leading Moms in Business celebrating the top mom owned businesses. She has been promoted in her job from a night shift staff nurse to the day shift as a Education and Training Educator for the new nursing employees, she has built her direct sales business part – time, while working a full time job, with her blog, newsletter, and smart phone. She has never picked up the phone to call cold leads or have home parties.
She has been invited to speak in Orlando Florida October 6-7, 2012 with ARealChange Int.
You’re invited to attend!