PDA software for the ED

[RN in pink]

I am a new graduate RN who was just hired onto an ED. It is a trauma II ED and also the designated burn center for multiple counties. Since it is a county facility they see the jail inmates and the youths from juvinile hall. In other words, there will be a wide variety of situations that I will be seeing in this ED. I have also bought my first palm pilot, a Tungstan e2 (after reading about them on the forums at allnursing.com). My question is...what software do ED nurses advise that I purchase for the PDA?

[hogan4736, BSN, RN]

ER suite

http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=3693

download the trial and try it for free

[Dixielee, BSN, RN]

The only ones I have purchased were Davis Drug Guide and Tabers. Everything else I have is free. Epocrates for drugs and Merck manual for general information are both great tools and are free. The Davis Drug gives a little more info that Epocrates that are useful to nurses They both have their good points, so I keep them both.

There are many good smaller programs such as drip calculators that can be beamed to you by someone who already has it. Check around and see who has what and try them out. You can always delete them if you find you don't need them.

Go ahead and get an expansion card, they are inexpensive and you won't ever have to run out of room for new stuff.

I have the Tungsten E2 as well and it has served me well, has a long battery life and as survived being dropped many times.

My most useful and favorite program however is Acid Solitare. When I get really stressed at work, I take a 5 minute bathroom break and play solitare. It takes your mind off your troubles and helps you focus again.

[RN in pink]

Yesterday was my first day in the ED and was very excited to use epocrities for the first time. I bought the one year subscription. I was looking up a medication in order to find out over how many minutes was I supposed to administer the IV push. This information was not in the drug guide and I ended up having to look it up in a drug book. Is there a better drug book that I should purchase or download?

[mmutk, BSN, RN, EMT-I]

I use Eppocrates (.com)

[JRapha'sRN]

I work in the ED and have found certain programs to be very useful. Here are the programs on my PDA in the order of usefulness (at least to me)

-MedCalc (free, TONS of formulas and calculators) http://med-ia.ch/medcalc/

-RN suite from SkyScape including Tabers

-Eponyms (free, for when a pt lists some weird eponym in their hx) http://eponyms.net/

-RSI (free, input weight and it will tell you doses for all your RSI drugs) don't know the site, someone beamed it to me

-ABG Pro (free, there's an ABG calc in the MedCalc program, too, so I don't use this one often)

I have one menu category listed as "medical" and keep the above programs as well as my calculator, memo program, and notepad on this menu.

[AirforceRN, RN]

I use the above plus clincal xpert by Thomson. It has lab stuff, disease stuff, drug stuff and tox stuff. I just found it last week and have used it quite a bit.

[wibobr]

I keep two on my Pocket PC...Epocrates and PEPID Both are available online as a limited trial use and most drug reps will have gift subscriptions to Epocrates

I am a new graduate RN who was just hired onto an ED. It is a trauma II ED and also the designated burn center for multiple counties. Since it is a county facility they see the jail inmates and the youths from juvinile hall. In other words, there will be a wide variety of situations that I will be seeing in this ED. I have also bought my first palm pilot, a Tungstan e2 (after reading about them on the forums at allnursing.com). My question is...what software do ED nurses advise that I purchase for the PDA?

[NativeSundance, LPN]

I bought ER Suite, Tabers and Davis Drug. I use all three of them almost daily. I also bought a pocket book from ENA for critical care drips. Most useful for quick reference!