The 10 Best Apps For New Nurse Practitioners

Studies show nurses can use apps to improve accuracy, increase efficiency, and boost productivity at work. Apps can help with time management, patient monitoring and evidence-based decision making.

From an ever-growing library in your native app store, here are the top ten mobile apps to help nurses and nursing students work smarter (not harder).

Best apps for new nurse practitioners

1. Drugs.com Medication Guide

Worrying about medication errors can keep nurses up at night. But nurses using this app will have peace of mind. Drugs.com’s Med Guide app accesses drug information, drug interactions, and side effects in seconds. With a tap of the app, caregivers can view peer-reviewed, accurate, and independent data on over 24,000 prescription, over-the-counter, and natural products.

Other features are:

• AZ drug index for pregnancy/lactation
• FDA MedWatch Alerts
• Drug shortage updates
• Symptom Checker Tool
• Pill identifier lookup tool

When signing in, caregivers should select the option on the screen to view content tailored for healthcare professionals.
Advantages: Fast, easy to use, accurate
Disadvantages: Upgrade required to remove ads ($1.99 – $4.99)
Costs: Free
Download links: Google Play or Apple iTunes

2. MediBabble Translator

Caring for patients with language barriers is difficult. That is, unless the nurse has MediBabble Translator. Professional Medical Interpreter App for Healthcare Providers is designed to improve efficiency, safety and quality of care for non-English speakers.

Spanish is preinstalled and five additional languages ​​(French, Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian and Haitian Creole) are available as downloads. MediBabble can help caregivers with triage, initial assessments and interviews. Also, the developers are working on an advanced care-specific module that will be available shortly.

Advantages: Works without an internet connection
Disadvantages: Limited languages, best for assessment, not good for explaining procedures
Costs: free
Download links: Android or Apple iTunes

3. Medline Skin Health Product Selection Guide

Medline developed the Skin Health Product Selector to provide caregivers with personalized wound care recommendations based on quick answers to six simple questions. The app also includes links to helpful resources, including:

• Treatment videos showing how to apply bandages
• Medline University online training
• Unlimited access to 200+ free CEU Nursing courses ranging from Wellness and Nutrition to Trauma and Self Care

Caregivers do not need to create an account to use the app if they select Guest.

Advantages: Fast, appropriate recommendations for wound care
Disadvantages: Recommendations are limited to the brand’s products
Costs: Free
Links: Google Play or Apple iTunes

4. ECG Guide

Caregivers who interpret and treat patients with different rhythms will love the ECG Guide app. It is a learning tool for those still in training and a reliable reference for experienced nurses. In-app features include:

• Library with over 200 high-resolution ECG examples
• ECG interpreter
• Multiple choice quiz for knowledge test
• Quick reference section
• A guide to pediatric conditions is included.

Advantages: Accurate and clear resource
Disadvantages: External ECG samples are not analyzed
Costs: $0.99
Download links: Android or Apple iTunes

5. Medscape

Medscape online is the one-stop medical resource for medical news, education and clinical references. Caregivers can access all of this and more in the easy-to-use Medscape app. One feature this app has that the others on the list don’t have is a podcast hub. Each show features an expert and discussions on trending healthcare topics. Other great resources in the app include:

• Breaking news affecting caregivers
• Access to drug and disease databases
• Continuing education for nursing staff
• Clinical Trial Updates
• Online and local events and webinars

Advantages: Informative, many functions
Disadvantages: Lots of annoying ads
Costs: Free
Download links: Google Play or Apple iTunes

6. GoodRx Pro

Nurses not using GoodRx are late in the game. Since 2011, the GoodRx mobile app has helped patients save approximately $30 billion in prescription drug costs. Now, GoodRx for healthcare professionals allows nurses and doctors to join the cause. GoodRx Pro for HCPs aims to increase medication adherence by allowing users to create a list of frequently submitted prescriptions. Caregivers can then send information to patients via email or SMS.

Advantages: Extreme savings for patients
Disadvantages: No frills (features)
Costs: Free
Download links: Google Play or Apple iTunes

7. Incredible support for healthcare careers

The best thing about this app is the premium CEUs, which can be customized to suit the nurse’s status, specialty, and interests. Nurses can quickly meet CE requirements at home, on shift, or on the commute by clicking CE & Tools. Incredible Health’s app also allows nurses to browse jobs, compare salaries, and ask questions in the nursing community. Over 1000 users support this app with 4.9 stars on iTunes.

Advantages: The app’s developers carefully crafted it with support for nurses in mind, including mental health tools like the Monthly Mental Health Index.
Disadvantages: Some tools are actually not included in the app. Rather, the app redirects users to a web page, which slows down the functionality.
Costs: Free
Download links: Google Play or Apple iTunes

8. Gahart’s IV Medication Handbook

This mobile app is a care guide for safely administering IV medications. It will be updated for 2022 with the latest information on FDA-approved drugs. The IV Meds app is a comprehensive, searchable resource for infusion therapy in all patient populations, from neonatal to geriatric. Easily find the black box or box warnings, dosage and dilution charts, and alphabetical drug monographs. Nurses have access to:

• Generic/Trade Names
• drug pH
• dose adjustments
• incompatibilities
• management speed
• Actions
• Indications and uses
• Contraindications & Precautions
• Drug/Laboratory Interactions
• side effects
• antidote

Within the app, nurses can take notes, voice notes, and annotations with text, doodle, or scribble.

Advantages: Updated annually, gives nursing staff security when working with new infusions
Disadvantages: Expensive
Costs: 30-day free trial, then $49.99 for annual subscription.
Download links: Google Play or Apple iTunes

9.  Taber’s Medical Dictionary

Taber’s is one of the most trusted resources for nurses. Taber’s complete medical dictionary now includes over 75,000 terms, 1,300 photos, 33,700 audio pronunciations, 130 videos and more than 600 patient statements from the latest edition. Taber’s mobile app gives caregivers pocket-sized access to the latest 24th Edition content trusted by professionals worldwide. Other features in this app are:

• nutrition and alternative therapy
• vaccination schedules
• Medical Abbreviations Appendix
• laboratory values
• Looking up the same information online would require hours of reading and research. Instead, this app provides the clinically relevant information you need in one place. In seconds, nurses can quickly search, bookmark, tag, and comment on what they need.

Advantages: Comprehensive resource, tons of information for nursing practice
Disadvantages: Expensive
Costs: The free version is limited. The full version costs $39.99.
Download links: Google Play or Apple iTunes

10. Nursing Center

Many may consider this last app on the list to be the best, at least in terms of reference tools. Nursing Central’s mobile app provides access to five volumes of nursing in one place. Users get:

• Davis’s Drug Guide – Information on over 5000 drugs
• Taber’s Medical Dictionary – see #9
• Davis laboratory and diagnostic tests
• diseases and disorders

Nurses and nursing students are well prepared for every task with this app in their pocket. Users also get access to the Nursing Central website for one year.

Advantages: Most reference material in one place
Disadvantages: Very expensive
Costs: The annual subscription costs $179.99, but users can preview the app for free.
Download links: Google Play or Apple iTunes