I am an Apple fanatic.
We’re talking worshiping at the altar of the Macintosh.
I’m typing on a MacBookPro, following Twitter on my iPad and waiting for a call on my iPhone 4S. If I was rich, I’d buy any of the vintage Macs on eBay right now.
Yeah, it’s that bad.
So it isn’t surprising that I find uses both the iPhone and the iPad at work.
In terms of recommending apps, I’d go for these four:
1. Google Translate
Google Translate is an iPhone app that translates your words into any of 63 different languages. You type the phrase into the app or state the phrase in English, the phone then speaks the phrase in the language you choose and translates the written phrase for the patient to read.
The patient speaks their response into the phone, which translates it back to you in English. The patient need not touch the phone, you simply hold the speaker in front of them.
The advantage is having a quick translator when going through the translator phones would be too cumbersome. I have one of my ER docs to thank for turning me on to this app. Once it’s on your iPhone, you’ll wonder how you lived without it!
2. Medscape and 3. Epocrates
Medscape and Epocrates are reference apps that give you the ability to look up drugs, drug interactions, and diseases/conditions. I place them together but while similar, there are major differences.
Medscape is free, and includes a comprehensive Procedures and Protocols section. Epocrates is also free, but puts their disease/conditions search behind a pay wall in their Premium version. Medscape includes a in-depth news section. Epocrates’ news is related to medication and sponsored by pharma companies. Epocrates does include a “Tools” section with a large number of “MedMath” calculators.
I have both apps on my iPhone and I am partial to Medscape. With the ability to look up diseases/conditions and procedures, I find myself turning to it more often. Epocrates is great for the calculators.
4. Nursing Essentials
Disclosure: Informed Publishing advertises this app on my blog, Emergiblog.
Nursing Essentials is a reference app developed specifically for nurses. This is actually the perfect app for a new nurse. It’s a good reference for all the basic assessment skills, tube insertions, injection sites, procedures and common drugs.
Experienced nurses will also find it useful. For me, it’s the pediatric calculators and medication list, and I use it to refresh my neuro information (cranial nerves, anyone?). If you run across a procedure you haven’t seen in awhile, this is the app you want in your pocket.
This app is $5.99
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I have, and use, all four of these apps in the ER. I’m always on the lookout for new apps, so if you have apps that you have used and liked (or used and not liked!), leave a comment and share your insights!
An app a day makes me a happy gal – I may need an iPhone with more storage if this keeps up!
Hi Kim, I got to this link b/c I follow you on Twitter. First, congrats on earning your BSN! I, too finished mine in 2010 at University of Phoenix online. Very convenient way to do things! Thanks for this very helpful info. I’m going to share (via ‘Like” on FB) this blog with my daughter, also an ER RN. She uses a lot of apps too, and I want to make sure she knows about these. The Google translator must be a gem-I know it is compared to the system used by our hospital. It sounds a lot faster, anyway! Do you know of any good ones for helping aphasic folks communicate? I have the free version of Small Talk on my ipod. The paid version is 30 some dollars. I didn’t want to pay that much. Thanks again, and keep those “inurse” tips coming!