Helpful smartphone apps for nurses

Most nurses, physician assistants and physicians carry smartphones and use them at work daily in today’s technologically sophisticated medical world. Although apps are available for iPhones® and Androids™—two of the most popular smartphones—the majority of free useful medical apps are available for the iPhone. Here are some of most useful smartphone apps for nurses.

Free smartphone medical apps

• ABG is a free app for the iPhone, iPod touch® and iPad®. It comes in handy, especially for the critical care nurse who needs quick analysis of blood gases. It also includes an IV drip calculator.
• Medscape is the largest and most comprehensive free medical app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Over 80 protocols and tables are included and cover ACLS, PALS and NALS. This fast app also comes with 10 videos, vaccination tables, drug information and medical procedures.
• Epocrates is available for the iPhone, iPod touch and the Android smartphones. This versatile, free medical app has information on 3,500 drugs and is updated weekly. Drug infusion rates, adverse reaction information, and images of pills are readily accessed on this popular app. References to lab tests are also included.
• MedCalc is a free app that is basically a medical calculator, with the ability to calculate dosages, IV drip rates, fluid resuscitation amounts for burns; it also has a pregnancy wheel. With over 150 scores, scales and calculations, this app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is invaluable.
• Pill Identifier Lite is another free app that will identify pills by inputting color, shape, imprint, etc. for over 10,000 prescription medications and over-the-counter products. Made for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, this app also has an upgraded version, which can be purchased, if you are interested in having 7,000 images installed to your smartphone with additional information.

Paid smartphone medical apps

• ACLS Advisor is $9.99, but a very worthwhile app for nurses. It is updated to reflect the 2010 changes in ACLS algorithms. Some of the key features include evidence-based guidelines, drug dosages, biphasic defibrillation, and pediatric life support. This app is made for the iPhone and iPod touch.
• Instant EKG is one of the top-rated, paid medical apps for the iPhone and is only 99 cents. It provides arrhythmia analysis for 30 arrhythmias, as well as 12-lead EKG interpretation. Over 150 quiz questions in five exams make this a must-have app for nurses in critical-care, ER, PACU and telemetry units.
• ThinkLabs iMurmur app has all the information you need to differentiate various heart sounds and physiologic disease states appropriate to each sound. Real patient recordings and phonocardiograms are part of this app, and you must use headphones for full benefit of the recordings. This $2.99 app is for the iPhone and iPod touch.
• Eponyms is another free app, which has a database of 1,600 listings of diseases and anatomical structures, etc., which are named for the person who discovered the disease, e.g. Bowman’s disease. You can search by the disease name or specialty category and check lab references as well as infectious disease information. Free updates and medical news is included. This app is free for students and costs $2 for other medical professionals.
• With PediStat for $2.99, pediatric and ER nurses can replace their Broselaw tapes. This app allows you to input the child’s age and weight to obtain correct drug dosages, normal expected vital signs, ventilator settings, hypoglycemia management and airway equipment sizing information.

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