PDA's-Are They Worth It?

Nurses New Nurse

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I am seriously considering buying a PDA-but I don't really know if it will be that useful or not; the Hospital where I am going to be working is fully computerized, but I also volunteer, and plan to to parish nursing-So, please, opinions on PDAs

Thanks!

Specializes in Med/Surge.

love my PDA-I have an iPaq and there hasn't been one day at work that I haven't used it so far. So, so handy to have in your pocket. Especially for meds..........sure beats searching for a drug book on the unit when you are in a hurry. There have been only a couple of meds that haven't been in there when I look, but then I just call pharmacy. I really debated about getting one and dh thought it was a little pricey and wondered if I would use it too but I have used it!! Definately worth its weight in gold to me!! I have a skills prog., labs, medmath, disease process................wonderful!!

As Martha would say "It's a good thing" :rotfl:

Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
love my PDA-I have an iPaq and there hasn't been one day at work that I haven't used it so far. So, so handy to have in your pocket. Especially for meds..........sure beats searching for a drug book on the unit when you are in a hurry. There have been only a couple of meds that haven't been in there when I look, but then I just call pharmacy. I really debated about getting one and dh thought it was a little pricey and wondered if I would use it too but I have used it!! Definately worth its weight in gold to me!! I have a skills prog., labs, medmath, disease process................wonderful!!

As Martha would say "It's a good thing" :rotfl:

I'm in love with my ipaq as well, just from personal use since i bought it last month- looking forward to using it on the unit saturday.

what kind of skills program do you have? it's so tough to decide what to invest in wrt software; also, some specialty areas probably would necessitate different apps. I'm personally looking for a patient management app that's customizable so I can plug in our report format.

It's probably overdone, but maybe someone should start a pda nursing software review thread- something substantial, explaining *why* you like a particular app. I'll be happy to do it once I break this puppy in on the unit. :)

Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

DH gave me a PDA when I started nursing school. Love it! Use it all the time on clinicals for quick reference. I have a Palm Tungsten T3.

Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, educator.

I'm thinking of getting one too. What should I look for, memory, setup, etc.? I don't want to get ripped off. I have a degree in computer science, so my husband automatically thinks that I have unlimited knowledge about anything computers as well as nursing....LOL & LMAO! He thinks I should just go on EBAY or to a retailer and just buy what I think looks good....I haven't got a clue about these pda things! I also am wondering about best program downloads and costs for programs and pda. HELP!!!!

Specializes in Med/Surg, Dialysis.
I'm thinking of getting one too. What should I look for, memory, setup, etc.? I don't want to get ripped off. I have a degree in computer science, so my husband automatically thinks that I have unlimited knowledge about anything computers as well as nursing....LOL & LMAO! He thinks I should just go on EBAY or to a retailer and just buy what I think looks good....I haven't got a clue about these pda things! I also am wondering about best program downloads and costs for programs and pda. HELP!!!!

I just got my PDA last week, PalmOne Zire 31, it's not the newest model but it was reasonable priced, 129.99. Whatever one you get you will most likely have to upgrade the amount of memory on it anyway, so don't pay more for one just because it has more memory then a cheaper model. It's very simple to download programs, I already have downloaded games onto mine. Skyscape.com has most of the nursing software you will probably need, I am looking into one of the constellation packages, $86-comes with drug guide, lab/diag. test guide, rn notes, drug calculations. I think this will be good for school, but I am waiting to see what they recommend. Good luck picking yours out, they are so fun! Yes, I am a nerd! :coollook:

Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, educator.

you all are sooooo lucky to get to use them in school. Where I went (I just graduated 5/6/05, so not the dark ages), they were not allowed. The school felt it taught us not to think on our feet-but we were allowed to use print manuals, possibly out of date. They also felt like we may break patient confidentiality with them....sorry, I don't think anyone would ever care about the patients I took care of! Oh, I won't even get started on HIPAA (or hippo-the big fat nuisance as I call it!), as most of it's statements are common sense anyway:angryfire .....sorry just venting about that!

NascarFan,

What's the name of the skills program that you have? As I'm soon to be starting as a new nurse, that sounds like a pretty handy program to have. Thanks.

Cindy

Definitely worth it, IMO.

I bought myself a Tungsten5 as a graduation present in May and I love it!

I started work in June and most of the nurses think it's great too.

I find it much quicker when I need to know what a particular med is.

I have two drug guides, a skills program, typical labs, med math, eponyms and Taber's Dictionary on mine.

Don't leave home without it ;)

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