What a time to be a nurse! You can have entire textbooks digitally compressed into the palm of your hand! There are several apps I use frequently- UpToDate, Figure 1, Sound Builder by Littman, and NurseGrid.
UpToDate provides the latest in evidence-based practice relating to all aspects of patient care- from medications to nursing interventions. It breaks down information by specialty and has a section for patient education. It’s very nifty. UpToDate even has a section that shows the very latest publications in evidence-based studies, giving you access to breakthroughs in medicine.
Figure 1 is like Instagram for health care professionals. Medical professionals from all over the world post anonymous (patient identifiers removed) photos of various cases. Followers are able to comment on the posts, creating a unique learning opportunity. This app is also sorted by specialty. I have mine set to show photos tagged with “critical care”, allowing me to test my clinical skills. For example, I can see an EKG strip, identify the rhythm, name the interventions needed, and then look to see if others agreed with that diagnosis and intervention. It’s really cool!
Sound Builder by Littman is a tool that allows you to hear all of the different types of heart murmurs. I wish I had access to this during nursing school because you rarely hear every type of murmur in clinicals and this gives you every type!
NurseGrid is an app that helps you manage your schedule. You can mark the days you work, mark days you are available to work, education days, meetings, and message coworkers (who are also on the app) to see if they can switch shifts. My favorite part of this app is that all of the scheduled shifts import into your calendar. It’s really convenient.
Technology has really given us some cool tools to use as nurses. These apps have really helped me- maybe they’ll do the same for you!
Kate Best is 2015 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Nursing.