PDA?????? Can someone tell me ............

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.........if these are useful for nursing school....how much did you pay for one,......what kind of software does yours have......and what have you purchased that helps with nursing school>>>>>>>>.

I have been out of school for almos 8 years.....so.....I have kept up a little with technology, but i don't know anything about PDA's......Please help....any info will be helpful about these gadgets......:banghead:

WOW, I'm shocked! I have a DELL axim x51v and I LOVE it. No problems what-so-ever. I have a 2GB memory card and I record lectures. I can easily upload them to my pc and I have LOTS of programs on it. I can't imagine having any other pocket pc.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
WOW, I'm shocked! I have a DELL axim x51v and I LOVE it. No problems what-so-ever. I have a 2GB memory card and I record lectures. I can easily upload them to my pc and I have LOTS of programs on it. I can't imagine having any other pocket pc.

I can't remember what Dells the students were required to purchase but most have had problems. The company they were bought from actually told me that they know they have had problems. I know that some have contacted Dell and have not gotten anywhere with them.

I had my HP so I got lucky. My husband is a computer guy (high in a company...not just a repair person) and he would never buy a Dell....hence why I have an HP.

The other students also only got 512mb storage card :uhoh3: They basically got ripped off. They paid $600 for their PDA plus programs. I paid $201.01 for my programs. The company now sells the pathetic storage card and programs for $241.51. So they basically paid about $358.49 for their PDA. Now keep in mind the school ordered 300 of them. I think it's reasonable to expect that the school got a very nice discount for the large order. Clearly that discount was NOT passed onto the students. They have a lower end Dell so it's not like they got some really nice PDA and that would explain the difference.

It was my understanding that the PDA they were forced to buy was not going to be made anymore...so they bought it at the end of it's life basically.

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Specializes in Hospice, LTC, Med/Surg.

I absolutely love my PDA. I finally felt confident enough to look up all my meds on it the night before clinical which is much faster than paging through the book. I have the Nursing Constellation from Smartscape which has the Davis Drug book, RN, and labs. Constellation also has a couple of other references on it, but I have no use for them at this time. Then I bought a few other programs like Tabers (invaluable), IV med, ect...

There was a slight learning curve to get over, but now I'm free sailing and still discovering valuable resources in all those programs. Also the PDA has all the dates that my assignments are do on it. It's just nice to have so many resources at your fingertips...that fits in your pocket! The more you use it, the faster you get at looking up the info you want. Having trouble trying to remember the correct words to use in describing an anatomical location? Or the name of that vein you just inserted the IV into? Or perhaps reading the chart and come across an unfamiliar word....it only takes a second (literally) to confirm!

Would also like to mention, that I researched the opinions of allnurses members before making a decision on what PDA or programs to buy! Just like my PDA, this site is also INVALUABLE!!!

Hooterhorse

PS. I paid about $200.00 for my Palm Tungsten 2 and have about $600.00 worth of software on it, but I bet you could get by fairly well with only purchasing the Nursing Constellation & Tabers.

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I have an HP loaded with several titles from Skyscape...Davis Drug, Tabers, RN diseases, RN assess, RN Labs, ICD-9 and then a few other little things. I can easily add more programs that I would personally like...and I plan to do so.

The other students were required to purchase a Dell PDA through the school. I got out of it by refusing to by the Dell because I already had an HP. Our school did not give us notice of the PDAs until we got our bills for the coming semester on a Friday afternoon with a $600 charge for the PDA. Nice.

Anyway they have Dells and they are awful. The students with Dells have nothing but problems. They freeze, they have a hard time updating, batteries don't keep charge, can't leave memory card in it...

If you get a PDA get a large memory card and store all your programs on the card...not on the PDA. The card can then stay in the PDA.

You can buy stuff from several sites. I have bought from http://www.skyscape.com

There are also freebies out there...Skyscape has some actually.

There are some free stuff here and the rest us subscription but the free stuff is great

http://www.epocrates.com

Vaccination schedule...the Windows version may not be working yet

http://www.immunizationed.org/anypage.aspx?pagename=shotshome

You just have to search and you will find more.

I have an HP hx2790. What memory card do you have? The one I bought ate my PDA power in less than an hour.

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I don't know about the paid version of epocrates, but the free download version of it does not have nursing considerations for the drugs as Davis' for Nurses does, you may want to have a hard copy back up for research purposes because if your instructor stops you mid pass and asks what the N/C for the drug are you don't want to pull out the palm and the info not be there when you need it most

The $39 version of Lippincott's for your PDA does, though. We were required to buy it and I can't imagine my life without it. I'm sure the full version of Davis' for PDA does as well; I believe that costs the same as the Lippincott's.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
I have an HP hx2790. What memory card do you have? The one I bought ate my PDA power in less than an hour.

My storage card is an Ultra II 1.0 GB by ScanDisk. My PDA has 62.64 MG of memory.

I never have battery issues. I have a TON of programs on mine...school ones and then free downloads.

I actually don't seem to have a lot of memory left on the actual PDA. I have 5.95 free for storage and 6.67 free for programs.

My PDA is a little on the older side and I may get something new in a few months. I will get another HP. This one is just kind of old.

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My storage card is an Ultra II 1.0 GB by ScanDisk. My PDA has 62.64 MG of memory.

I never have battery issues. I have a TON of programs on mine...school ones and then free downloads.

I actually don't seem to have a lot of memory left on the actual PDA. I have 5.95 free for storage and 6.67 free for programs.

My PDA is a little on the older side and I may get something new in a few months. I will get another HP. This one is just kind of old.

That's the one I had, and it drained the crap out of my battery in no time. Usually I can run my PDA - with the keyboard attached! - all day and never lose power. I wonder what the deal was.

I have more memory than I'll ever need anyway - I've got Microsoft Office Mobile, Taber's, Lippincott's, games, the required lab values software, Nursing Diagnoses, Diagnosaurus, Archimedes, Shots 2007, about twenty Word docs and two PowerPoint presentations, plus a ton of other stuff on here and it says I've got 172.86 MB free for storage and 23.59 MB free for programs. I did buy the biggest one they had memory-wise, because all the PDA users I knew at the time said theirs was never big enough for what they wanted to use it for. It says 320 MB ROM, 64 MB RAM, and 256K Flash memory. It also is capable of more than I know I'll ever ever use it for!

That's the one piece of advice I would give out - memory-wise, buy the biggest one you can afford. The nice thing about all this memory is I probably don't even need a memory card right now.

The best twenty bucks I ever spent regarding my PDA is the little HP keyboard I got on eBay. We have to beam docs to our instructor at the end of each clinical experience, and I can do it so much faster with the keyboard attached than pecking away with a stylus. It's the one that's eighty bucks on the HP website that plugs right into the PDA; I paid extra for rush shipping and still paid less than half what HP wanted for it before shipping. You just go to the HP website and download the driver right to the PDA.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac.

I use my PDA in class constantly. Whenever a drug or term comes up that I don't know, I just look in Davis or Tabers. I could bring the books, but the PDA is a lot lighter and not as obvious when I'm using it in class. Of course also great on clinical.

I have an HP that I like. Others have Palms that they like. I guess it's just what you're used to.

I'd like to find some PDA version of Sparks and Taylor or something like it.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
That's the one I had, and it drained the crap out of my battery in no time. Usually I can run my PDA - with the keyboard attached! - all day and never lose power. I wonder what the deal was.

That's the one piece of advice I would give out - memory-wise, buy the biggest one you can afford. The nice thing about all this memory is I probably don't even need a memory card right now.

I got my PDA for free...so I'm not complaining. My husband works in the IT field and had this PDA from a while ago. He bought it (through work) basically didn't use it and so I grabbed it when my school required them and was going to make us buy Dells.

In time I'll start nagging for a new one soon. I've mentioned it from time to time. I made some comment about my screen getting scratch from being in my pocket and my husband's response was no biggie because I'll just get a new one.

My one concern...transferring everything to a new PDA :uhoh3: I imagine it could be a slight pain.

My PDA says it's a PXA250.

It's older, doesn't have a lot of memory but unlike the rest of the students in my class...mine works!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
I use my PDA in class constantly. Whenever a drug or term comes up that I don't know, I just look in Davis or Tabers. I could bring the books, but the PDA is a lot lighter and not as obvious when I'm using it in class. Of course also great on clinical.

I have an HP that I like. Others have Palms that they like. I guess it's just what you're used to.

I'd like to find some PDA version of Sparks and Taylor or something like it.

Are you looking for a Nursing Diagnosis program?

I actually have this in book format. There is a small version and the large. I have both and I'm returning the large on as it seems identical to the small one and let's face...small is easier to carry around. I look at this download and it appears exactly the same as the book. I will likely get it in a few weeks when there's more $ laying around. I was going to return the book and just get the software and then I bent the front cover. Thinking I can't return it now :uhoh21:

http://www.skyscape.com/estore/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=1919

I know nothing about this one but there are free trials. This one says it's "quick reference supplement for any nursing diagnosis text" which is one reason I would go with the other one over this one...that and I have the book for the one above and it's not bad.

http://www.skyscape.com/estore/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=1081

I have the NANDA book which I use more then the other one...I just need the definition to ensure I'm using the diagnosis correctly.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg.

I have an HP, can't live without it! I have a ton of programs on it = probably using RN Central the most. It fits in my pocket at clinicals and makes it easy to look stuff up whether for the patient (info on tests, procedures, etc.) or drugs (we have to look each drug up before we give it each time). I have one instructor who has me look up stuff for her all the time, another won't trust it and looks whatever I tell her up in a "real book" to see if I got it right - whatever - some people don't trust technology. I have gotten a lot of programs from Handango.

sunny

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I have a Dell x50v that I love. I use it in clinicals and to study. I couldn't imagine nursing school without it. I would agree that it would be better having it in your head than your PDA. However, my nursing instructor told us last semester that there was no way you could learn everything. I like having the PDA in my pocket to look up those things I haven't learned yet.

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