Do nurses find these useful

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I am starting nursing school this year and thinking about purchasing a PDA. I was wondering if nurses find these convient and useful in actual practice. What PDA do you own? Would you advise a student to purchase one?

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.

https://allnurses.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1031915

A little bit of info to get you started :).

I don't own one and don't need one in my clinic setting since I am right near a 'puter all the time. I can see where it might be useful for advanced practice nurses, but I never need one when I'm working on the floor at the hospital as a staff nurse. It might have saved my back a little lugging around all those books in school ;).

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

There are literally a dozen threads on this subject, and I would be happy to help you do a search, if you need it. You can search those threads for answers...some may not reply here due to this.

My opinion is PDA's are VERY useful in nursing. there are several programs you can get to help you do your job better------and faster. From pharmacology to books on procedures, etc---there are many programs out there you could use.

I also put all my scheduled shifts, on-call days, etc and appointments in there---as well as people's birthdays. It's set up to remind me 2 hours ahead of each appointment or shift with an alarm. I also track shifts I have worked so I can compare my hours to those in my punch detail to make sure my paychecks are right. I love this calandar/tracking feature alone (any PDA can do this, believe me---you don't have to spend a lot to get basic features).

Here is the one I have (it's not top of the line or high-dollar, but it certainly does all I need it to do):

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6501546&type=product&id=1077629064002

There are a whole variety available with myriad uses/capabilities. I wish mine was one that could go online. I would advise one that has wireless internet capability. It sure could be handy.

anyhow, check out the sites and price ranges/capabilities for PDA's. I think again, it would be very useful for you, once you are aware of all they can do.

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Specializes in Case Mgmt; Mat/Child, Critical Care.

That's good info, SBE, I have a PDA, don't use it much....though I should and would like to. You've given me some good ideas as how to utilize it better!

Do you have any favorite "programs" in yours? I put epocrates in it, but not sure what else I could use. I guess I should find those threads, too. LOL

Thanks!

There are literally a dozen threads on this subject, and I would be happy to help you do a search, if you need it. You can search those threads for answers...some may not reply here due to this.

My opinion is PDA's are VERY useful in nursing. there are several programs you can get to help you do your job better------and faster. From pharmacology to books on procedures, etc---there are many programs out there you could use.

I also put all my scheduled shifts, on-call days, etc and appointments in there---as well as people's birthdays. It's set up to remind me 2 hours ahead of each appointment or shift with an alarm. I also track shifts I have worked so I can compare my hours to those in my punch detail to make sure my paychecks are right. I love this calandar/tracking feature alone (any PDA can do this, believe me---you don't have to spend a lot to get basic features).

Here is the one I have (it's not top of the line or high-dollar, but it certainly does all I need it to do):

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6501546&type=product&id=1077629064002

There are a whole variety available with myriad uses/capabilities. I wish mine was one that could go online. I would advise one that has wireless internet capability. It sure could be handy.

anyhow, check out the sites and price ranges/capabilities for PDA's. I think again, it would be very useful for you, once you are aware of all they can do.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

does yours go online?

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

THIS is one I could have REALLY REALLY used in school (I hated looking up those damn lab tests in that book):

http://www.skyscape.com/estore/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=950

worth its weight in gold.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

a little brief article on PDA use in nursing (and what to look for):

http://nursing.about.com/od/nursingsoftware/f/pdasoftware.htm

Excerpt:

"What would a nurse do with a PDA? What type of software would be useful?

A.

PDA's are small hand held computers which in which you can store information such as an address book, calendar/date book items, games and other databases.

When choosing a PDA, consider what types of software you might want to use with it. The prices range from less than $100 to several hundred dollars. There are over 1000 models to choose from. Start your research here. (lists a website).........."

more of the article at that site.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I see more and more programs will be developed that are useful to nursing and medicine in the future. I will be keeping MY eye out for obstetric/gynecologic references/texts in program form and snap them up. I like having fast, easy info at my fingertips to use.

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I would love to see a forum for PDA's or just general what to buy for nursing school set up in here. Is that possible ??

There have been a zillion posts on both topics and it would be great to just go to the forum instead of doing a search. We could include nursing shoes, scrubs too for that matter....plus all the in's and out of pda's software and use and problem solving.

Thanks:)

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I think that is a smart idea.

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We could include nursing shoes, scrubs too for that matter....plus all the in's and out of pda's software and use and problem solving.

A forum for nursing supplies? What a fab idea! Not to mention how helpful it

would be to the newbies, such as myself, having it all in one place instead

of spread out in all the different forums. :)

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With all the threads about PDA's and their usefulness in nursing, I think that it would be great to have a forum for PDA's. We could share information on what's available in different areas (OB/GYN, cardiology, ortho, etc.) and have reviews on what people think is good or bad about certain software programs, this would also be good for students as they could get information on what's going to help them the most in clinicals.

I, for one, am all for this idea!

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