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Guide to PDA (Handheld and Palmtop Computing Resources)
for Health Care Professionals
The advantages of using a PDA are many. If programmed it
an work a slave unit to the main ward or hospital
computer. This means you don't have to run to the computer
every time when you are on rounds and need to check the
lab results or order medicine from Pharmacy or x-rays from
radiology department. The time so saved can be better
utilized for patient care and increases the overall
working efficiency of the staff. The advantages of PDA are
innumerable, to name a few they include:
1) PDA as bedside reference material
2) PDA for Drug references
3) PDA For Diagnostics reference values
4) PDA to refer to clinical guidelines or protocols
5) PDA as Medical word or picture dictionaries
6) PDA to check Lab values
7) PDA to order drugs from pharmacy
8) PDA to use for explaining to patient's or their
relative about a procedure or condition
9) PDA for education of student nurses.
Specialists recommend that at least 8 MB of memory (RAM)
should be available for use in the clinical setting. In
the future, even this may not be enough. You should also
look for expandability, preferably with an industry
standard card (i.e.- flashcards type 1 and 2). To date, of
the Palm OS, the Visor is expandable, but only by
purchasing Visor memory (Sony also has a expandable model,
it uses only Sony memory). The TRG pro is the first of the
palms to have an industry standard flash card slot. It can
even hold IBM's 1 GB card. This gives a huge amount of
potential storage space at a reasonable price (much
cheaper than Visor or Sony). As with Visor and Sony, you
cannot run applications from the extra memory card.
However, as most nurses will be using the Palm for
reference material and for tracking patients. You can
store multiple references in the flash card and access
them easily. Plus you can back up your whole palm device
onto your flash card. If your battery goes dead, or your
Palm crashes, it is easy to retrieve your lost data.
PDA's running on the Windows CE platform as a whole have
more memory and are more expandable than the Palm series.
Many have up to 32 MB as a standard, plus they are
expandable with flash cards. These also tend to be quite a
bit more expensive. Downside to Windows CE is that the
Windows CE programs take up quite a bit more memory than
the compact Palm programs. As a result, 32MB of memory is
not very impressive for the memory consuming programs it
has to hold. Another downside is that there are currently
less medical and nursing programs written for this
operating system.
A big issue is battery life. How long is it expected to
last? Is it rechargeable? If it is rechargeable, how many
years is the battery pack expected to last? Is the battery
pack removable? If not, what happens when the battery pack
eventually wears out? Check these facts before buying one.
Remember, when your batteries run out you don't lose the
programs you put on there, but you may loose the data you
have entered (i.e. your entire address book) This usually
is not a problem if you have been good about frequently
syncing your PDA to your PC.
Next comes availability. Is the PDA you are interested
available right now or on backorder (as many of the new
Windows CEs are). Are you willing to wait?
The Address Book varies from model to model but supplies
some of the same basic elements. Thousands of entries can
be stored in the address books. These programs are
designed to get the information to you quickly and easily.
The address book also synchronizes with your personal
management system (such as Microsoft Outlook). You only
need to create a contact list once and it will be stored
on your PC and your PDA. Handspring has come up with an
add on cell phone, that allows your Visor to use your
address book to dial the numbers.
The Date Book is probably the most used application of the
PDAs. It can track all your appointments, show your
schedule by the day, week or month, and can handle
recurring events. In addition it can alarm to remind you
of an upcoming appointment.
The To Do Things List is a handy little program that
allows you to track projects or tasks. You can prioritize
the tasks and set up deadlines. This handy reminder allows
you to organize big and small tasks. It will also remind
you when a task is due.
The Memo Pad is designed to let you write long notes and
leave your self memos. It lets you write ideas and memory
joggers to yourself. It is also used to load some of the
medical programs.
The Expense Section allows you to track and manage all
your expenses and mileage on trips or conferences. It
synchronizes with Microsoft Excel. The Expense section in
Windows CE is more extensive than the Palm version,
although more useful versions can be purchased. (see link
page).
The Calculator is a basic program that allows you to do
basic calculations. Additional medical calculators can be
downloaded for free or purchased. (see link page).
The Find Function allows you to find that certain memo you
wrote last year, a persons name in your extensive address
book (even if you don't remember the whole name) and
meetings that you set up way in the future. It is a
shortcut that you will want to learn to use.
Additional functions are added on by different companies.
For instance, Windows CE devices also come with Pocket
Excel, Pocket Word and Pocket Quicken. There are thousands
of additional programs that can be added on to your PDA to
Customize it to your use.
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