iPad Apps for a Nursing Student

If you want to be a technology evangelist then you need to understand the technology. That and a hundred other half baked justifications (excuses), a bit more student debt, one expensive trip to the Apple store and this nurse has an iPad.

In all seriousness I want to test the iPad's usability and see if it has a felt (since I can't 'measure') impact on my workflow. The product is only weeks old (in Canada), and there are already some fantastic applications and more on the way.

For now I'm starting with:

Productivity iPad Apps

Good Reader: PDF/document viewer. I have been using it to sync research reports that I need to read. I sync 1-5 for fun, and then stacks (20+) when I'm writing about a particular topic so I can flip through them on the subway.

Evernote: I was not a big user of Evernote until the iPad. This application syncs notes, which can include photographs/screenshots, audio (20 minute intervals) and video attachments. I like this for tracking ideas (this blog post for example), random thoughts, project materials, and to file some of the random things I like yet don't have a place for.

Things: This is a expensive To Do list manager and a bit for project management, I'm sure you could get better free ones, but this one syncs with the paid for apps (iPhone/iPad/Desktop), which is mandatory for my lists.

Pulse: A fantastic visual viewer for RSS feeds

Kindle: Free app for eBooks, this is fantastic. I'm not sure about you, but I am definitely an optimistic packer- meaning whether on vacation or a trip to school I will bring extra books just incase I get time to read them. Now I have the books I want to eventually get through on more than my night stand.

Clinical Resources iPad Apps

Epocrates: Provides information on drugs and a range of options from FREE all the way to $199 a year.

Universal Doctor Speak: Don't be scared off by the name of this app, it is really a translator for basic in clinic conversations and has potential for nurses as well. It provides english to French, Spanish or Chinese, as well as some speech options. This allows you to point to an instruction so patients understand your questions/instructions.

Web MD: This app allows you to check out symptoms, drugs and basic first aid information. Useful for interest and to recommend for patients. Interesting to see what patients are able to learn and find out without health care providers.

Health Related iPad Apps

Sleep Cycle: Fascinating app that lets you track the quality and length of yourself. Sleep is very important for nurses and nursing students, this app allows you to measure you average sleep and set an alarm that tries to wake you up when you are coming out of a deep sleep cycle. I also wonder what it would be like to have this type of functionality for out patients, it would be extremely useful to know how much rest they are actually getting. Think about how much we wake up our patients, if we knew they were in a REM cycle perhaps we could wait the extra half our before getting them up for a bath or round of medications.

Lose It: Another important health measure is out daily calorie and nutritional intake, and again this app could make a great addition to our electronic health records. Image your patient handed you a detailed report of their daily, weekly, and monthly calorie intake and weights. Much better than the traditional pen and paper 24 hour system we often use. I also know a lot of nurses that use this app on the iphone once they book their flights to warmer climates.