Recently, I have noticed a definite increase in medical staff (at least in our emergency department) carrying iPhones.
It seems the iPhone is fast becoming brand of choice for the
 discerning ED nurse. Having already discussed the pros and cons of nurses carrying their mobile phones whilst on duty, and finding my own iphone an increasingly useful component of my personal nursing kit, I thought I would take a look at some of the apps I recommend.

So here in order of ‘most used by me’ are my top iPhone apps for nurses:

Calendar: There are plenty of 3rd party calendar apps available for download, but I find the one that comes standard with the iPhone more than adequate for my needs.
Keeping track of rosters, education inservice times, meetings, conferences and friends  birthdays it all gets dumped into my trusted calendar ‘cause I have the recall capabilities of a goldfish.
Being a born-again Mac convert my own calendar syncs seamlessly with my laptop and work desktop (via MobileMe).
But it is also possible with a little tinkering to sync with other calendars such as Google and Microsoft Office.

Things: This is a personal organiser that stops my life sliding into an abyss of cluttered anarchy. Once again there are many such apps, some free and others not, and each has its own organisational ambiance. I have tried a heap of them, and this one works best for me.
In my case I sync it to the desktop version on my Macbook.

Facebook: Im sure to cop a little flack for placing this free app third on the list.
But as a tool for networking with other colleagues and for tracking the lay of the land, I find Facebook can provide a invaluable dipstick into the heart of the unit.
But be warned. The boundaries between professional and personal information expressed on Facebook can easily smudge with a potential for disaster. Issues of patient and staff privacy must be given due diligence. Our own staff are well aware that their bosses ( and their bosses) are well and truly linked in amongst the networks of friends.
 Having said that, the potential for using Facebook to keep your finger on the pulse of the unit, as well as its potential to be integrated into more formal education, and communication, and team bonding streams, should not be underestimated.
As opposed to twitter, which I just find stupid.

GoodReader: A document reader that allows you to transfer files from your computer to your iPhone via its WiFi. It can allow you to view (but not edit)  Text, PDF, powerpoint, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and many other documents. It has a neat option to extract the text from pdf documents into an easy to read display.
Once again there are many similar apps out there, but this one works best for my needs. I simply store our departments frequently used policies, guidelines and drug info as text files for easy access.

MedCalc: Free app that gives you easy access to more medical formulas than you can poke a IV pole at.
It has a very user friendly interface and the ability to customise a list of favourite equations such as:

• Dose calculator.
• Fluid replacement for burns.
• Infusion Management.
• IV drip rates.
• Pregnancy Wheel.
• Urine Output.

This one is a definite keeper.

Drug Doses: Based on the popular Australian Paediatric Drug Doses pocket book by Frank Shann, this app is not cheap and its interface leaves a lot to be desired. It seems they have just cut and pasted the text from the book into the program and indexed it.
But as a reference app, it has the information and I use it a lot.

Epocrates: Is a much more polished drug reference app.
It has a free version as well as a subscription which unlocks a deeper well of information including peer-reviewed, evidence based treatment options, hi-res images etc.
Even with the free version you get: Drug dosing, adverse reactions, pill pictures, medical calculators in a polished and professional package.

Evernote:  A powerful information capture system that allows you to create notes, pictures and audio files and then sync them to your desktop or the web. Once captured you can easily search to extract the precise information you need. It even lets you search for text in pictures you have taken.
There are paid and subscription versions.
I have written about the medical potentials for Evernote in more detail here.

Mental Case Lite: I love this little app.
It syncs to a desktop version of Mental Case (Mac Only) that allows you to produce your own custom flash cards.
You can add pictures to the cards, sort them into separate study cases. The program ‘follows’ you as you work through the cards, re-presenting those that you have not learned at more regular intervals.
For my tiny brain, flash-card study is the best way to get anything to stick to the neurons.
Once installed on the iPhone, you can pull out your flashcards at any time for a little quick revision. The whole package aint cheap, but for nursing/medical students  and adult learners this is a gem.

So, these are the apps I very regularly use on my own iPhone. To try them yourself simply enter their name into the search screen on your iPhone app store.
Do you have any of your own recommendations or comments?