Electronics in Nursing School

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What does everyone use for school? iPad, tablets, or laptops? I'm really confused on what to get. I want an iPad but at the same time I need a laptop. I want to get some advice or ideas about what everyone's using in school even pre-nursing. What would be best?

I'm leaning towards the laptop but which one?

To the MacBook owners, how do you take notes on the power points?

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Getting a laptop is essential, in my opinion. I don't have a tablet, but when I look around the room, in my class, everyone who has electronics has a laptop. While tablets are neat, they aren't always compatible for certain files for uploading and printing. I personally, print all my notes from my laptop, and bring them to class.

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Getting a laptop is essential in my opinion. I don't have a tablet, but when I look around the room, in my class, everyone who has electronics has a laptop. While tablets are neat, they aren't always compatible for certain files for uploading and printing. I personally, print all my notes from my laptop, and bring them to class.[/quote']

Yes, a laptop is essential. Where I attend school I would always rather use my laptop in the library in a very quiet area to do my school work. I wouldn't like using the school's computers because majority of students noisy, it's crowded and I rather find my own space to study with my laptop.

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Personally, I would buy a laptop for now. It will be easier to use and in the case where you need to research stuff online; The sites will probably be easier to read on a laptop. As well as that, at least you can see desktop versions of sites straight away whereas on an ipad the mobile sites can sometimes be useless and I know you can change the settings for it but you'll probably have to zoom in and stuff... save yourself the hassle and buy a laptop in my opinion it's more practical but if you really wanted an iPad later on for personal use then there's no problem with that... Plus, if you wanted a tablet as well as a laptop a cheaper option would be to go for something like a Galaxy Tab... they're like £110 where I'm from.. much cheaper than an iPad and you can still do most stuff with it plus it too can connect to a bluetooth keyboard.. Hope I've helped and sorry for the long post :) x

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Specializes in Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.
I use a macbook for everything. I don't even carry paper with me. I don't print power points, just annotate them during lectures. I cannot imagine why my method is so rare. Out of my class of 80ish, I'm pretty much the only one who does this. LOVE being able to search keywords. Makes studying so much easier.

I also don't use any paper for class. My program utilizes Google docs for in-class group work, and a laptop is required. All of my notes are on my school Google drive account. If papers are passed around in class, I take a pic and upload it. I'll lose it otherwise. All of our books are ebooks.

I like a tablet for reading and reviewing notes, but not for hardcore note taking or extended typing. I wouldn't want to switch back and forth between my notes and the book on a tablet, but it's really easy on a computer. I used to use my iPad to take handwritten notes and I enjoyed that, but it really isn't possible in my program that requires group participation for nearly everything.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

HEY EVERYBODY

There is a new type of wireless flash drive for all of you (iPad) USB-deprived folks. Srsly... it connects via bluetooth. Here's a link. SanDisk Connect Wireless Flash Drive

Now, if they could just develop one that I can't lose . . .

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Specializes in ICU.

Hey thanks HouTx!! I will check that out cuz I really need the extra space on my ipad. My son has downloaded a ton of apps on it. I'm trying to clean it up now that he has his own but this will be really handy!!

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day:

Do check for reviews of the product and whether you can use it to store the type of documents / objects you need to store. While we cannot afford it now, Amazon.com: Seagate Wireless Plus 1 TB Mobile Device Storage with Built-In Wi-Fi Streaming (STCK1000100): Computers & Accessories is on my radar.

Thank you.

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My program requires an iPod touch, but recently they moved to accept smartphones as well, as long as you can disable the camera or cover it with a piece of tape while in facility. We have a suite of mobile resources, called SkyScape, that we have for on-hand reference. It is a requirement, no if, ands, nor buts.

For papers and powerpoints and all my online tests/quizzes, I got a laptop. They say you can use a desktop at home as well, but being able to pull up the powerpoint while in class, or taking my quizzes while sitting in between classes really helped my time management. I don't surf the net or chat while in class because that isn't what I'm there for. Well, that, and the instructor would totally catch on and nail me for it. The instructors I have seem to have a knack for noticing when your attention has wandered, even over the IVN connection.

I used an older touchscreen/tablet laptop with a note taking program, but never did use it to handwrite my notes. It just wasn't able to keep up with the pace of class. I used OpenOffice and LibreOffice, but all of my instructors used MS Word and while there is a huge amount of overlap, some integral paperwork for clinicals could not be rendered properly in the free program. I really encourage those who can to get MS Office Suite.

For those of you just starting, I strongly encourage you to head to your IT help desk a few days before class and ask them to set your computer up for their networks.

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I'm finished with my pre-reqs but I used plain old paper and pen. I have my MacBook which I use for school I'm general though.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

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