Anyone use PDA or hand held PC?

[ViolettaCCU, MSN]

i will be starting the spring '08 rn program soon and wondering if any of you use a pda, palm pilot or hand held pc? i really know nothing about these devices and can't help but wonder if they're a good idea. if you do use one, what brand do you have and what do you like/dislike most about it? your thoughts, please...thanks a bunch!

[richardjboro1]

Palm tungsten, use it hourly at least in clinical, and very often in class. Am a junior BSN student and couldnt live without it. I have mosby's drug guide and RN Notes from skyscape.com. Lots of cool other applications for it as well.

[phoenixfire]

I haven't started my nursing program yet (start in Dec), but I use my PDA all the time for Pharm and Micro. It really depends on how tech savvy you are, and whether or not you would rather look something up in a book, or have it in your pocket. If you're pretty good with computers, a PDA may help a lot, and if not, it may seem like a useless expense.

[future L&Dnurse]

I could not survive school without my PDA. I have a Palm Tungsten E2 with Nursing Central installed and I just don't know what I would do without it. My back would hate me a lot more than it does already, that's for sure - my PDA replaces about 4 textbooks on a daily basis and it is SO nice to be able to look up a med fact or lab result quickly at the bedside without having to go search for a book.

[laurainri]

pda is one way to save your back. I love nursing central & use all of them in there. also IV med book I got also. anything that is required for school and i can get it in palm version I do

[twinkerrs]

Palm Tungsten here too. I love it! I use it all of the time and it was definitely the best purchase I bought for school.

[Danish, MSN, APRN, NP]

I have the Palm Tungsten too. I wasnt allowed to use it at clinicals until my third semester, but I couldnt have made it without it.

[puresass]

i got a palm lifedrive as a birthday gift a couple of weeks ago & i really like it. i've only had one clinical since i received it & it was really helpful with drug interactions & looking up drug info & terms that my clinical instructor asked me to find out about. it's not really necessary to have a PDA (i'm the only one in my clinical group that has one & only one other person in our entire class has one) but it's definitely helpful. i'm only in my first semester, but i'm guessing i'll use it more as i go farther into my program.

[Sillynicunurse]

I love my Palm. I am in my last semester of nursing school. My husband has a windows based PDA and I find it more difficult to navigate but it could be that I am used to my Palm. I carry it to clinicals to replace my drug guide and Tabers. Love it, love it, love it.

[mvanz9999, RN]

It would be helpful if you could say which model you had as well. Tungsten E2, T3, T5, etc.

[APBT mom, LPN, RN]

I have a Palm E2 and I love it. I don't have to worry about carryig the books I need to clinicals and having to find a spot for them. I have all kinds of programs on it. I'm the only one in my clinical group that has one but I know of a few other students that do and we all use it everyday.

[MB37]

What's the learning curve on PDAs? If I'm kind of a technophobe, how hard are they to figure out how to lose? I do like the idea of having one, since we're required to bring 1-2 textbooks to clinical each day yet we aren't given anywhere to put them, so I'm always afraid of them walking off. I only know one person who has one, and she hasn't really used it at clinical yet since we're only in Fundamentals.