Developing Phone Apps

[Midwifemama5]

Has anyone ventured into the development of phone apps? I know someone out there must be doing it! I have been working with nursing school sims and the development of those, along with some other things that I think would work well with an app. However, I would need to have a developer, since that is not my area. anyone do this? Or have knowledge in this area?

[NedRN]

You need to first develop a business plan, particularly a revenue model (possibly advertising supported if you don't have an app people or schools are willing to pay for). Once you have that, it will be immediately obvious how much you can pay a developer. Then just put it out for bid. If you get bids for more than the break even point, you shouldn't go any further.

What is a nursing school sim? Simulator perhaps? Of what?

[Midwifemama5]

Thanks. I have found some outsourcing for developers,including odesk,which seems to be possible. It can cost anywhere from 200 for a simple app to 2000 for a more complex app. One idea for a simple app would be optimal fetal posiioning. This would be directed towards midwives and doulas in the field. It would include 3D models along with directions on what to do if the baby is not in the optimal fetal positional, say an asynlitic head. Most of know these things, but it is very helpful to have something to help visualize exactly how you want mom to rotate, which way to lunge, etc. Which is the whole concept behind the spinning babies idea.

Nursing school sims are simulations. I generally do the ob ones; right now we are doing pre-eclampsia and pospartum hemmorage. We started something different this semester, using the company evolve, where we actually let the students "do" the simulation. They get to spike and hang the bag, give the injection, do the cath, call the doctor, make critical thinking decisions. All along, I have a dry erase board where as they take the vitals, I tell them what they are at that time, so they know if the patient is getting worse or better.

I did a whole masters project on this and even have an app/game on my phone for ACLS like this. I play it all the time. Same concept. I have a patient come in and am given a scenario, then I run the code. All along, I can pick the meds (and there's a little dictionary I can refer to if I forget). I can stop and return to CPR, intubate, shock, etc. And my patient continues to get worse or die.

These are the kinds of things I'd like to do for ob. My daughter is actually pregnant and has found a ton of very simple apps, and that's when it dawned on me that there was no reason I couldn't be involved in this! She has everything from due date calculator, to what her baby looks like/can do now, to baby names, to the chinese calendar, to treating common pregnancy complaints,to even one that is childbirth classes (not really fond of that).

I also have been looking into second life. One of my students takes other classes there and has shown me some interesting ideas. I looked into what some of the other colleges were doing and was surprised to see how some have built entire campuses!

I feel that not only is my college missing out, but as a nurse entrepeneur who can only work outside the home part time, I am totally missing out on an opportunity that I had felt was way out of my league at first, but really is a simple concept. It's just learning the steps and basics to get started. And that's where I need the help.

Thanks for your reply.

[NedRN]

You have a lot of really great ideas. I would develop your ideas that require interactivity, simulations with tests, logs, and such first. My suspicion is that straight informational apps will not sell well. Videos and static web pages can be accessed for free.

[swansonplace]

Hello,

Just curious if you made any progress on developing your applications. I am a new nurse with a background in software development. I am planning on doing something similar but on my own.