Nursing Students and PDA's
So with my recent acquisition of a new Palm TX, I've delved into the world of PDA's and nursing software. I feel that using a PDA for certain things can definitely make things easier and at the very least minimize the amount of weight we have to carry. To that end I have begun a session of sorting through all the available material out there and putting my findings here. Hopefully this will help. Oh, and everything is free unless it has a "($)" by the name.
Epocrates RX
This is the first thing to put on. Epocrates provides a free PDA drug book. This little bugger hasn't been stumped yet and stays more current than a physical drug book. I know personally of several practicing RN's that use it and have heard of many more nurses as well as doctors and med students who swear by it. If your wondering why it's free, think of it as a gateway drug. Epocrates gives you the RX program for free but offers a whole package of other programs that you can buy. It works on: Palm OS 5.0 or higher, Pocket PC, Smartphone, and Windows mobile 5.0 Size: Palm version 5.2 megs, all others 4.9 megs Other: You will need a Windows 2000 or XP or Mac OS 10.2 or higher computer for the initial installation
Get it: http://www.epocrates.com/products/rx/
Merck Medicus
This is the second thing to put on. Merck provides their second most recent medical dictionary free. I compared it to the newest one straight out of a bookstore and a random sampling didn't show any differences (17th Edition vs 18th Edition). In addition they also throw in several other free tools, my favorite of which is the Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests. It works on: Palm OS 3.5 or higher, Pocket PC, and Windows mobile 5.0 Size: Palm version 8.0 megs or 1.0 megs for the "lite" version, all others 9.0 megs or 1.2 megs for the "lite" version. Other: If you can handle the space I'd recommend the full version. When registering it they ask for your license number, just choose other and put in the a number and type. Certain features of some of the other programs are only available to doctors, etc but this doesn't effect the Merck Manual or Diagnostic tests. Your CNA number will work just as well as anything else. As of January 29, 2007 Merck Manual 17th Edition has been upgraded to Merck Manual 18th Edition Professional Edition and is of course still free. Go to their website and follow the directions to upgrade.
Get it: http://www.merckmedicus.com/pp/us/hcp/hcp_mobile_medicus.jsp
Shots 2007
Quick reference guide for the 2007 immunization schedule. There is also a version which includes pictures. It works on: palm os 5.0 or higher. Size: 3.6mb (picture version), 600k or 400k (non-picture version)
Get it at: http://www.immunizationed.org/anypage.aspx?pagename=shotspalm
Isilo ($)
So far this is the only program that I have paid for. The program itself isn't worth the $19.95 I paid for it however there are many free programs for it that I found very interesting. DermMeister is a program that contains descriptions and pictures of common skin conditions. Physical Exam Study Guides is something I wish I had before 211; it contains every step of the physical exam plus equipment needed and additional notes. Clinical Exam gives an overview for both patient history and exam. Eponyms gives explanations for common and not so common medical terms. Also note that there is a 30 day free trial after which you can still use iSilo but it reverts to a more basic form (no pictures and poor formating). It works on: they seem to have a version for everything. Size: unknown, but fairly small. Other: Look at www.memoware.com for a wide variety of documents (nearly all are free) and www.meistermed.com/isilodepot/index.htm for a large assortment of medical documents although many have a cost attached and some are fairly outdated.
Get it at: http://www.isilo.com/download/index.htm
Due Yesterday
This is a great little program to keep track of class information and upcoming assignments. The only problem the initial imputing of all the data which takes a little while (hint: you can use the Due Yesterday desktop software to input information and then sync it with your PDA). However if anyone else is interested in this program let me know and I can can see about posting the information in a way that can be saved to your PDA. It works on: should work on anything. Size: unknown, but fairly small. Other: There are 2 types Due Yesterday and Due Yesterday Desktop; you only need Due Yesterday but if you want Due Yesterday Desktop you must have Due Yesterday installed first.
Get is at:
http://nosleepsoftware.sourceforge.net/index.php?page=download
Diagnosaurus 2.0
This is the free version of a much more expensive tool. I assume it's to give you a taste of how good the "real" version is but I was less than impressed. Basically it allows you to put in one symptom and it gives a list of possible diagnoses. However it doesn't allow you to cross reference or put in multiple symptoms. I'm giving this one a pass, but if you want to give it a try anyway... It works on: Palm OS 3.5 or higher, Pocket PC, and Windows mobile 5.0 Size: Palm version 0.8 megs, all other versions 1.1 megs Other: I don't recommend it but at least it's fairly small.
Don't get it at:
http://www.unboundmedicine.com/uguides/diag/diagnosaurus/diagnosaurus.htm
C-Tools 2.0
Ebmcal
Geriatrics at your Fingertips
MedCalc - http://www.med-ia.ch/medcalc/
MD on Tap
If you have a PDA would like to share your experience with it or have software that you would like to recommend or warn about let me know at justin.bsn@gmail.com