[TELEpathicRN]

I was just wondering if any of you ER nurses use PDA'S in your practice and if so, what programs are the best. Are there any free ones out there? I am about to start in a Pedi/gyn ER. I have worked ER before, but it was before PDA'S came in to play. Thanks in advance!

[traumaRUs]

I absolutely love the ER Suite - just pop that in a search engine. It has doses, calculators for weight, burns, IV calcs, etc. It also has an absolutely awesome RSI part and that is the main reason I've kept it. I paid about $70 for it a couple of years ago. It also has all the pedi stuff - it is awesome.

[Dixielee]

I have epocrates that I use almost every day for looking up something about a med. I downloaded that one from the internet, but I have others that were "beamed" to me. I don't know how you can find them but the best one is called "IV rate". It is a generic dosage calculator, but you can input all of your drips in the concentrations your hospital uses, and just click to them, you type in your patient weight and how many mg/mcg/units or whatever and it will give you the ml/hr. I love it! I also have archimedes that has more info than I can possible tell you about here...I may have downloaded it as well, can't remember. I have RN-Emerg which had peds/ob stuff as well as ACLS quick reference. I have "pedi dose" that gives you pediatric doses of meds based on the weight you type in. I also have "Bio-chem" which I got back when we were worried about being attacked again by bad guys. It tells you how to identify and treat chemical, biological and nerve agents (scary stuff). I have one called ABG decoder. You enter all your blood gas data and it tells you resp vs metabolic acidosis/alkalosis, compensated/uncompensated, etc. I never really use it, but it might come in handy someday. I use a lot of this stuff every day, as well as the phone book portion of the PDA. The only program I ever paid for was "acid solitare", for about $12.....for use in those "stressful times".

[veetach]

here are a couple of links. Epocrates is the best IMHO

http://www2.epocrates.com/index.html

http://www.pepid.com/products/rn/def...ource=overture

http://www.skyscape.com/index/home.aspx

[RNCENCCRNNREMTP]

I have used a Palm device in ER for 5 years now.

Below is a list of what I carry on my Palm Tungsten C with an expansion card. I also lecture on Palm technology in the ER.

They are great tools to have.

Andrew B.

Skyscape (www.skyscape.com)
5 Minute Clinical Consult 2004
5 Minute Cardiology Consult
5 Minute Emergency Consult
5 Minute Pediatric Consult
5 Minute Toxicology Consult
iFacts
Handbook of Fractures
Harriet Lane
Taber's medical Dictionary
.911 (Free application that covers SARS, MOnkeypox and bioterrorism)
ARTbeat (Free application with CDC and MedWatch updates)
LAB 2003
American College of Cardiology Acronyms (all the cardiac related studies by title, year, area studied) and Guidelines

Unbound Medicine (www.unboundmedicine.com)
5 Minute Clinical Consult
Unbound Surgery
CogniQ Pediatrics with Journal Abstracts and Medline search
Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests

Medical Wizards (www.medicalwizards.com)
ER Suite 5.0 (Many calculators including ACLS/PALS/Infusions/Fluids (peds and burn also)/OTC dosing and more)
Ultimate Drug Guide (built in calculators for infusions)
Tarascon Pediatric Emergencies Pocketbook
Bones (Bone anatomy diagrams)


StatCoder (www.statcoder.com) All of these are FREE
Cholesterol Guide (Recommendations based on current cholesterol levels/data)
GRACE Risk Calculator (Risk of death from AMI/ACS)
AiFib Stroke Risk
Cardiac Clearance for surgery
Growth Charts (Is the child at right weight/height for age??)
JNC7 (latest hypertension guidelines)

The rest of this list is the majority of my 3rd party software grouped by category on my Palm. MOst of the items below, unless otherwise indicated, can be found at www.palmgear.com:

Calculators
ICU Math (Many biologic function calculators)
Pnemonia Calculator
Canadian C-Spine Rules
Mini Mental Status Exam
Appraiser (evidence levels program)
ABG Pro
MedCalc (FREE)
C-Spine x-rays need
MedRules (FREE)
Palm Hemoglobin (Calculate oxyhemoglobin dissociation curves)
Palm PEP (Post exposure prophylaxis database (needle-sticks))
PregWheel (Is she 20 weeks+? Then she goes up to OB!)
Pulmonary embolism predictor


Cardiology
Predictor (Risk of Cardiogenic Shock)
TIMI Risk Calculator (www.timi.org) FREE
Cardio math

Communications
Cloak (Encrypted database for passwords and private information)
Documents To Go
JFile 5
Wordsmith (I have used this to create over 500 memos for emergency medicine practice tips and tricks)

Drugs
Johns Hopkins Antibiotic Guide (FREE with frequent updates) (www.hopkins-abxguide.com)
BioChem Version 1.6 (Bioterrorism guidebook, also chemical and nuclear)
ePocrates Pro Rx/Dx (A very good drug reference guide, also the paid version comes with an infectious disease guide and holistic/alternative meds and now 5 MCC built in and also a built in lab reference guide) (www.epocrates.com)
Infusicalc (Best drug infusion calculator I have worked with, plug in your hospital standards then just type in dose and weight(if weight based) and BAM you have a drip rate) (www.aetherpalm.com)
RSI Calculator (Calculator for rapid sequence intubation drugs) (www.auriccanada.com)
Tarascon E-Pharmacopoeia (www.tarascon.com) (Another well designed drug guide, more nursing information)
Ultimate Drug Guide with built in dosing calculators

Medical
Big Clock (FREE)
Code Blue (www.eminnovations.com/codeblue)
DxSaurus
HandBase 3 (http://www.ddhsoftware.com/handbase.html)
iSilo (www.isilo.com) (Document reader, I have downloaded or created a great number of iSilo readable apps,
Go to www.meistermed.com and choose isilo depot link. Lots of cool/FREE medical apps

Pediatrics
Riley Kidometer (www.kidometer.com)
Shots 2004 (Are shots up to date, how about catch up, who gets what as an adult)
Tarascon Pediatric Emergency Pocketbook (just like their print version)
Hyperbili (tx guidelines for newborns with elevated bilirubin levels)

Radiology
PocketRadiologist
Brain and pediatrics titles

Utilities
SnapCalc 5 (pop up calculator that does not require you to close out an application to do a calculation)
Converter

[needsmore$]

Great list-thanks- I use ER suite, IV tool, Preg wheel, Harriet Lane. I'm gonna check out some of those other sites- I know some nurses use the 5 min medical ones

Anne

[needsmore$]

I also have Bejeweled!!!

Anne

[susi_q]

I think I'm sold ... leaning towards the Tunsten E - I work in a Level 2 ER - what do I need in the way of hardware? Options that are essential? nice to have? fluff?

Thanks

[RNCENCCRNNREMTP]

Originally Posted by susi_q

I think I'm sold ... leaning towards the Tunsten E - I work in a Level 2 ER - what do I need in the way of hardware? Options that are essential? nice to have? fluff?

Thanks

I use my Palm to take notes at meetings and so the keyboard is essential. For the Tungsten E the only one available is the wireless keyboard ($69.95 from PalmOne).

You should also invest in an expansion card. I suggest NOT getting a Secure Digital brand card but instead get a Panasonic or Lexar brand. The bigger the better. You can usually get a 128mb card for under $100.00. More and more programs can put their databases on the expansion card, freeing up more room on your handheld. The notable exception to this is ePocrates. It must go fully on the handheld and the full paid version runs about 8mb once everything is loaded.

Hope this helps.

Andrew

[susi_q]

Stopped into Best Buy today - they are trying to sell me on the Zire 72 - what are the essentials? I want to buy something that I'll be able to use for a long time ... but don't want to waste money on features that don't get used. Thanks