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"You can take the PDA down the hallway and have
the staff utilize it as a way to make the staff input
vital signs," she said. "But if they have
to do significant maneuvering to do that, that's not
the best use of the employee time or the technology."
Bickford said even simple questions, like how nurses
would carry around the technology, still need to be
answered.
"One of the things we always talk about is the
splash factor: Does it fall into a bathtub or commode?"
she said.
Despite the concerns, many nurses seem interested in
having their own PDA to use as a reference tool.
Some nursing colleges even require students to have
PDAs. At Drexel University in Philadelphia, the cost
of a PDA is figured into each student's mandatory lab
fee. The students have five reference texts on their
PDAs, and the texts are updated regularly.
Having the PDAs helps students learn, said Gloria Donnelly,
Ph.D., RN, FAAN, dean of the Drexel College of Nursing
and Health Professions.
"You just can't teach them everything in the classroom,
you can't expect them to carry everything around in
their head, it's too dangerous."
She thinks this is the wave of the future.
"In the old days, every nurse had a bandage, scissors,
a watch and a couple of other things," she said.
"The PDA is like the bandage and scissors. It's
always in your pocket in case you need to access information."
Students also like the technology and say they'll use
it in their professional careers.
"It's a valuable source of information, it carries
so much and it's very lightweight and portable,"
said Dan Rupert, a BSN student at Drexel. "I see
it as extremely valuable, as do most of my classmates."
The use of personal PDAs for reference extends outside
the classroom, according to Deborah Burger, RN, president
of the California Nurses Association and a nurse at
Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Burger said she sees many nurse practitioners and critical
care nurses using the technology. Like administrators
in the study, Burger has some concerns about patient
privacy if the new technology is used for individual
patient information. But she can see how a PDA can be
a useful reference tool.
"When you see some of these reference manuals,
they're huge," she said. "To be able to put
them in a small Palm Pilot and pull it up quickly makes
a difference."
Burger said the association planned to offer PDAs at
a discounted price to members.
For more information or to purchase a copy of the Spyglass
Consulting Group study, visit www.spyglass-consulting.com/spyglass_whitepaper.html
or contact Gregg Malkary at gmalkary@spyglass-consulting.com.
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