APPLE: Comprehensive list of APPS
for professional & student nurses
(Free to $15 range)
Click on any app name to access directly in iTunes App Store.
ACLS / CRITICAL CARE / ICU:
ACLS Advisor - Resuscitation Guidelines & ECG Advisor ($9.99)
Helps you learn arryhthmias and ACLS. Dynamic movies simulate real life clinical practice, with alarms and noises to recreate a stressful environment. |
*Special mention, over $15 range:
DART Sim (ECG Rhythm & Monitor Simulator) ($29.99) Turn your iPad into a Monitor/Defibrillator Simulator. Interpret ECG & vital signs, then implement an intervention. Instructors can then adjust rhythm and/or vitals (optional: use a bluetooth keyboard). Comes with 25 built-in rhythms. Instructors can build own scenarios. |
*Special mention, over $15 range:
SimMon ($22.99) this simple, easy-to-use app turns an iPad into a basic vital sign and/or telemetry monitor. Plus you can sync it with another iPad or iPhone which can be used as an optional remote control. |
Full Code Pro from AHA (Free)
Effortless documentation tool for use during a code. Outstanding for use in simulations. Demo video |
ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY:
CardioSmart Explorer (Free)
Interactive teaching tool for the heart by the American College of Cardiology: Use high-resolution cardiac graphics and animations to review and discuss common heart problems and treatment options with patients. |
Heart Pro III ($9.99)
Interactive 3-D viewer of heart developed in collaboration with Stanford University School of Medicine. Demo video |
Insight Heart ($2.99)
THe human heart expedition. Interactive 3-D viewer explores heart in a healthy state and disease states (MI, CAD, a fib & more). Demo videos |
Living Lung (Free)
Interactive 3-D viewer of healthy lungs breathing. You can adjust respiratory rate. |
Visual Anatomy by Education Mobile ($2.99)
Interactive education tool & reference with 150 high-resolution images and more than 750 interactive feature points. When selected, each point displays a label & short description. Also contains 1247 additional Gray's Anatomy images and several 3D models. Plus 6 quizzes with 150 multi-choice questions. Click here to trial free version: Visual Anatomy Lite (Free) |
OTHER A&P APPS:
- Build a Body (Free) Build 6 organ systems in this drag-and-drop game app - fun way to learn some basics.
ASSESSMENT:
Heart Murmur Pro ($2.99)
23 different heart sounds with extensive educational information on each: location & description, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, treatment options, and more. Demo video Click here to trial free version: HeartMurmur Lite (Free) |
Physical Exam Essentials by Hipposoft ($2.99)
Quick, easy-to-use review of the assessment procedures & techniques for 14 different categories, including: cardiovascular exam, thorax & lungs, neurological exam, cranial nerves, general survey, health history, abdominal exam, & more. A useful overview resource of the essential assessments. |
PsuedoChromatic Color Test by Cassiopeia I.T. (Free)
Assess for color blindness using 24 plates from the Ishihara Color Test. Allows a client to draw a line on screen to trace paths of numbers & shapes. |
CALCULATIONS / CONVERSIONS:
- Calculate by QxMD (Free): Contains over 200 unique clinical calculators and decision support tools.
Konvert ($1.99)
Easily convert between units: mass, volume, length, time, speed & more! |
MyScript Calculator ($2.99)
Handwrite your equation on the screen & this app will convert it into digital text and perform the calculation. |
CDC APPS:
Centers for Disease Control (Free)
Access full-text articles from the CDC on health issues, preventing chronic disease, CDC podcasts, CDC videos, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), and more. |
CDC: Solve the Outbreak (Free)
Get clues about outbreaks, analyze the case & save lives! When a new outbreak happens, CDC disease detectives are sent in to figure out how it started, before it can spread. In this interactive app, you get to decide what to do: Quarantine the village? Talk to people who are sick? Ask for more lab results? The better your answers, the higher your score – and the more quickly you’ll save lives. Take the study of epidemiology outside the classroom! |
CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT:
COPD Pocket Consultant (Free)
The COPD Foundation's Pocket Consultant Guide (PCG) in an interactive app format. |
Eye Emergency Manual (Free)
Interdisciplinary clinical decision support tool for MDs, RNs, and paramedics. Created by Australia's Agency for Clinical Innovation. |
First Aid by American Red Cross (Free)
Step-by-step instructions with text, illustrations, and videos. A must-have! |
- John Hopkins Guides (Free app, but each guideline requires in-app purchase) Evidence-based medical guidelines for Antibiotics, Diabetes, and/or HIV available for purchase, starting at $29.99.
Sepsis Clinical Guide (Free)
A thorough, evidence-based, and easy-to-use resource for clinical information on sepsis. Includes a section on pediatric sepsis. |
WISER (Free)
WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) offers rapid, comprehensive decision support in hazardous materials incidents. Created by U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH). |
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
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COVID-19:
Informational and coping:
Apps that are piloting digital contact tracing:
- Covid Coach by VA Health Care (Free): coping & self-care for everyone
Apps that are piloting digital contact tracing:
- CovidSafe by Univ. of Washington (Free): self-diagnostic, contact tracing
- coEpi (Free): self-reporting
- NOVID (Free): contact tracing
- Private Kit: Safe Paths by MIT (Free): contact tracing
DIABETES:
EDUCATION:
Browzine (Free)
Connect this app with your university or health facility library account to browse and read your favorite journals in e-format. |
Educreations Interactive Whiteboard (Free)
Turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. Your videos are stored on Educreations server and can be played on any computer or mobile device with internet access. Also videos are easily embedded in your website or blog. Educreations website |
Explain Everything Whiteboard (Free) Animate & narrate explanations and presentations with this easy-to-use app. Create videos & export directly to YouTube, Dropbox. Demo video
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Kahoot! - Game-Based Learning Platform (Free)
Turn your classroom into a gameshow for interactive, game-based learning. This is the student app, educators sign up at getkahoot.com to create, discover, launch and play games. |
Khan Academy (Free)
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Notability (annual subscription $11.99)
Combines the speed and ease of natural writing along with the multi-media advantages of digital note-taking. Handwrite notes while you simultaneously record your meeting, add web clips, images, shapes and more. |
Popplet Lite (Free): Build diagrams & concept maps Demo video
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Quizlet - Digital Flashcards (Free)
Access all flashcards you upload and/or create in your free www.quizlet.com account. Turn your flashcards into quizzes & games with the tap of a button. In my opinion, Quizlet is the best digital flashcard app right now. Socrative - Student Clicker (Free) Socrative - Teacher Clicker (Free) Interactive audience response system. Turn almost any mobile device or laptop into a "clicker". Use questions and games to engage your class and evaluate how they are understanding material in real time. Accessible in class simultaneously by all Apple & Android devices! |
GENETICS / GENOMICS:
Gene Screen (Free)
Fun and easy way to learn about dominant and recessive genetic traits, and the inheritance, prevalence, and screening for recessive genetic disorders. |
Genetics and Evolution (Free)
Originally designed for the Duke University (and Coursera) Introduction to Genetics and Evolution course (click here for a short video introducing you to this free online class). This app is an excellent supplement to any genetics course with tools to test your knowledge and generate and solve types of genetic problems to improve the understanding of fundamental concepts of transmission and evolutionary genetics. |
IMAGES:
Figure 1 - Medical Cases (Free)
Photo sharing with case details for healthcare professionals: Share images, knowledge, and clinical insight with other professionals, while keeping patient privacy safe. |
INTEGRATIVE CARE:
About Herbs by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Free)
Created by their Integrative Medicine Service, this evidence-based app includes over 200 monographs on herbs, botanicals, supplements, complementary therapies. |
Wellscapes (Free)
"The Forest Awakens" - a 5-minute meditation created by nature photographer Craig Blacklock and the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing. Watch nature videos in silence, with music and/or nature sounds. Additional meditations available for purchase through app. |
MEDICATION RESOURCES:
Epocrates (Free)
Offers a free mobile drug reference. |
FDA DrugShortages (Free): FDA updates on shortages - you can turn on optional alert feature.
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GoodRx (Free)
Easily compare prescription prices at local pharmacies, which vary more than you think. App provides current cash & sale prices, manufacturer coupons, pharmacy discounts and valuable savings tips for thousands of prescriptions. GoodRx tells you which pharmacies have common generic drugs for less than $4 per fill, etc. |
IBM Micromedex Drug Reference ($2.99/year)
Leading healthcare clinical drug reference for adults. Very comprehensive and easy-to-use.
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Micromedex Pediatric Essentials ($9.99/year)
A pediatric clinical drug reference. Comprehensive and easy-to-use.
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MENTAL HEALTH APPS:
- Healthline: Best Depression Apps of 2022
- Psychiatry Advisor: Top 10 Mental Health Apps
- VA App Store: Mental Health Apps
OB & PEDIATRIC:
- CDC Vaccine Schedules (Free
Heartpedia by Cincinnati Children's Hospital (Free)
Congenital heart defects can be difficult to visualize and explain. Heartpedia allows you to interact with 3D models of pediatric heart anomalies and defects. Healthcare providers can use these visual learning tools to help educate patients and families on specific defects and repairs. Also, patients and families can learn more on their own or share the details of a defect with concerned friends and family. Supplying the right information and tools ultimately results in the highest level of care and the best outcomes. |
- OB Wheels (Free) Interactive OB wheel/due date calculator
- PALS Review ($5.99) Prepare for the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certification/renewal with this app, which has four 25-question practice exams covering key pediatric resuscitation concepts. Each question has detailed rationales to help you master the content. (Note: this app only contains practice exams, so it is for review of PALS concepts, not initial learning.)
PEDI Stat ($4.99) Rapid reference
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Simply Sayin' - Medical Jargin for Kids (Free)
Medical jargon can be overwhelming to children because they process information differently than adults. Developed by Certified Child Life Specialists at Phoenix Children's Hospital, this app includes: alphabetized glossary of medical terms with simple language explanations; illustrations and photos; anatomical images that can be drawn on freehand to illustrate surgical procedures & medical conditions; and sound clips. |
QxMD APPS:
- (Free to $7.99) - Click on buttons below to learn more...
SLEEP:
SleepMatters by John Hopkins (Free)
John Hopkins Medicine provides animated education modules on basic sleep concepts and 7 disorders that affect sleep (sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, PTSD, etc.) and 3 patient case studies. |
TRANSLATION:
Google Translate (Free)
Translate over 100 languages, listen to your translations spoken aloud, directly translate speech & handwriting. |
iTranslate Voice ($6.99)
Speak into your iPhone or iPad in one language and immediately hear yourself in over 40 languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Czech, Finnish, Hungarian, Arabic, Indonesian, Turkish, Greek, Slovak, and more. |
Medical Spanish: Healthcare Phrasebook with Audio ($5.99)
Very easy to use and structured around how healthcare providers perform assessments. Demo video. |
VETERANS' HEALTH:
- Click here to visit the VA App Store
Exposure Ed (Free): Excellent info for providers on military-related exposures to chemical and environmental hazards (Agent Orange, burn pits, depleted uranium, warfare agents, etc.) and VA exposure-related programs and benefits.
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Hero Care by American Red Cross (Free)
Helps military, veterans, and families prepare for, cope with and respond to the challenges of military service.
Helps military, veterans, and families prepare for, cope with and respond to the challenges of military service.
PTSD Coach (Free)
Provides education about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), tools to help users manage stresses of daily life, a self-assessment & information on professional care. |
VIRTUAL REALITY:
Within - VR (Virtual Reality)
Open app & click on these immersive virtual reality documentary films:
OPTIONAL: Buy a simple cardboard accessory to turn your smartphone into a virtual reality viewer. click here. |
WebMD APPS:
Medscape by WebMD (Free)
WebMD's resource for professionals. Access comprehensive info on 10,000+ drugs/herbal remedies, conditions & procedures. Medscape has content specifically geared to nurses: http://www.medscape.com/nurses Designed for patient use:
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FREE APPS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO TRY:
- Aging Booth (Free) A fun exercise to increase empathy: help nursing students literally visualize themselves as elderly with this free app.
- Bone Marrow Transplant Guidelines (Free): Care guidelines for patients and clinicians by the National Marrow Donor Program and Be The Match.
- FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) (Free): Preparedness info for different types of disasters, map of FEMA Recovery Center locations (one-stop centers where disaster survivors can access key relief services) & shelters, and more.
- Google Cardboard (Virtual Reality) (Free): Fun VR experiences. Will need to buy cardboard viewer: click here.
- My Fitness Pal (Free): Fast, easy-to-use app to track diet, calories, exercise.
- Red Cross Mobile Apps: (Free): help you know what to do both before and after a
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Raney Linck is a nurse educator
living in Minneapolis, MN, and was named Minnesota Nurse of the Year in Education by the March of Dimes. |