Your favorite "tech" solution to help you in nursing school?

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

What is your favorite "tech" solution to assist in nursing school? I am an instructor and would like to offer some options for my students. We already podcast our lectures and I have discussed itunes apps with them, as well as synching their calendar with their phone. What other equipment/ideas/features make your life easier?

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

What exactly is a podcast? Is it like listening to your radio on your Ipod but it's the lecture? I have always wondered. I wish my school did that so I didn't have to record the lecture and hassle with trying to get it on my ipod.

Anyway, I set out to be totally techy for nursing school and then got the "uncalander" for a hard copy.

I got the unbound medicine on my phone and ipod and a few other apps I found. I went to upload my schedule as well but at the end of the day for the schedule I ended up having the hard copy I printed from the website in the clear front loader of my binder and used that 99% of the time to keep up with the schedule. LOL

But I am all about technical stuff so I look forward to posts in here. Apparently with my new phone I can input my calendar to gmail and automatically load it into my phone, if that is the case then that will be easier because I hate using the little touch pad to enter everything directly from the phone and ipod.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

Yes, for podcasts, you can do audio or video. Mine is currently just audio. I find it traumatic enough to hear my own voice played back. I am not quite brave enough to have to watch myself on video!! I think it has made me more aware of my more annoying habits when lecturing however! I record the lectures onto podcast. There are some wonderful, professional podcasts on itunes. I hope that some day mine will also be of better quality and a bit more polished.

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Specializes in LTC, MDS Cordnator, Mental Health.

we arn't allowed phones on the floor so I use a PDA... I got it for clinicals and still use it today. I also have documents togo... I love that application.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Yes, for podcasts, you can do audio or video. Mine is currently just audio. I find it traumatic enough to hear my own voice played back. I am not quite brave enough to have to watch myself on video!! I think it has made me more aware of my more annoying habits when lecturing however! I record the lectures onto podcast. There are some wonderful, professional podcasts on itunes. I hope that some day mine will also be of better quality and a bit more polished.

I know one of my instructors had said they were thinking about doing something like that. It probably won't be until after school is done for me but man I would love that. I am an auditory learner, well kinetic and then auditory and I try recording the lectures but it's a pain to go through all of it. I want to eventually be a teacher and I will have to watch for the fact I say UMMMMMM a lot whenever I do presentations. I will even catch myself saying it way to much but I just still keep doing it. lol

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What is your favorite "tech" solution to assist in nursing school? I am an instructor and would like to offer some options for my students. We already podcast our lectures and I have discussed itunes apps with them, as well as synching their calendar with their phone. What other equipment/ideas/features make your life easier?

I have two that I love. The first is my laptop. It's a laptop convertible, which means that it's both a laptop and a tablet. I use Microsoft OneNote on it and between the two of them, I can send my Prof's PowerPoint slides to OneNote, and take handwritten notes on the slides...using my tablet pen. I can also record the lecture using OneNote....I love this feature because it synchronizes my recording with my handwritten notes. So basically it puts a play button to the write of every line I write, this means that when I go back over my notes and wonder what the heck I wrote or drew.....I can hit the play button next to it and it starts the recording 5 seconds before I started writing that line.

The second bit of technology I love is my PDA and Skyscape Constellation. The program is a bunch of books (Davis drug guide, Tabers, Dx guide, Lab Values book, etc) but what makes it even more useful is that they're linked together. So, from a Dx, I can pull up lab values associated with that Dx from the lab values book, drugs associated from the drug book, etc An incredibly handy thing in clinicals!

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Specializes in SNU/SNF/MedSurg, SPCU Ortho/Neuro/Spine.

things I use:

-skyscape

-epocrates

-record my lectures

-lab application for the iphone

-bring my laptop and if lecture is crazy, i scribble first then type it!

-i have a NANDA diagnosing and documenting book that i found online on one of the sources of the library and i downloaded it! it is about 90 mega, and i have it on the iphone (woot woot!!! nanda on the phone) i also carry the PDF on a memory stick with me in case i end up working on my papers!

ps. i got one of those 8 gig usb drive made of titanium from sandisk!

it has a web browser included so i can access all my bookmarks on the go

- i have a powerpoint, voice recorder, papers, summary bullet points folder for each semester, where i store my things, so if i am at work and want to work on a care plan i can, if i want to review another class that i did not bring the book for then i can access my power points!!!

HOW CAN I NOT FORGET MY USB EVER??? its on my car keys, so wherever i am i have it!!!!

i also use google calendars which syncs with my gmail, my google wave, and my iphone, and sends me notifications!!!

what i do is: i plan 3 days before any test and meetings to send me messages regarding what i have to get done, for the meeting, and off course!!! the allarms let me know that morning what to do!!!

i also marked wich lecture days, so the night before, it tells me which books to take to class!

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Specializes in Home Care.

One of my instructors posted a video on YouTube showing her doing a complete newborn assessment.

I wish more instructors would post clinical skill videos on YouTube :)

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

Hmmm, the google calendar post has me wondering...if all instructors were to post to one central calendar, I wonder if students could easily synch this to smartphones? Off to check this out now!

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What exactly is a podcast? Is it like listening to your radio on your Ipod but it's the lecture? I have always wondered. I wish my school did that so I didn't have to record the lecture and hassle with trying to get it on my ipod.

My micro prof recorded podcasts for all of her lectures and I loved it. Now I record them myself, which isn't so great, but what I found to be a huge help was a little app called iTalk. It costs just a couple of dollars, and there is even a free "light" version available on iTunes. I have a little mic that I plug into my iTouch headphone port (it looks cute--like a push pin), but I'm not actually sure if that is necessary with the app. Anyway, it means I can record directly onto my iPod! No more messing with transferring recordings from a digital recorder onto the computer and then getting them onto my iPod. The only disadvantage with listening to recordings from the iTalk program (as opposed to one that is in iTunes) is that there it doesn't seem to "save" where you were when you stopped listening. It's okay if you just turn off and then go straight back to the program when you turn your iPod on, but if you go to any other program, when you go back to iTalk there is no hint about what you were last listening to or how far along you had got.

Still, I love it. It has saved me a ton of time, and I have been able to relisten to all my lectures, mostly when driving, so-o-o-o easily. If you have an iPhone or iTouch and love to learn this way, check it out.

But I am all about technical stuff so I look forward to posts in here. Apparently with my new phone I can input my calendar to gmail and automatically load it into my phone, if that is the case then that will be easier because I hate using the little touch pad to enter everything directly from the phone and ipod.

Yes, that's how it works. Once I discovered gmail/Google calendars I was a happy camper. Now I can update my calendar anywhere--on my laptop, (work computer) netbook (school computer), Blackberry, or iPod, and they are all updated automatically. I :redbeathe technology!

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I bought a Livescribe Pulse pen and found it useful to record lectures. It records the audio at the same time it photographs your notes so you can playback your audio while you review your notes.

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One of my instructors posted a video on YouTube showing her doing a complete newborn assessment.

I wish more instructors would post clinical skill videos on YouTube :)

my instructors do this, too. I think it's a great idea!

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