Hi, I am getting ready to start my second year as an ADN student in Texas. I bought my PDA at the beginning of my first clinical. It was the most helpful thing I had. I had Tabers dictionary, Davis drug guide and nursing diagnosis handbook. I used it often during my clinical rotation in the nursing home as the nurses and my instructor was often not available for questions. There were no reference books available, it allowed me to be more self sufficient and work independently without having to ask alot of questions. In my second rotation at the hospital, one section had reference books and another didn't. I have since put a skills book, RN fast facts, diagnostic and labs manual on. When making my care plan I have alot of what I need at any time. it is also handy when you need to write something down and you dont have paper. I was writing stuff down when my patient was being transfered from one dept. to another for tests. I was the only one in my group to have one but since a few others have bought them. you can try programs throuhg skyscape and unbound medicine (google them) for a trial period to see if you like them. if you buy all your software from one of these companies you can cross reference them through the programs. There is also alot of free software out there. Merck Mobile offers free stuff which I also have and have used as refernce. Hope this helps and good luck.
