Recently in the news I read that nursing students at Ball State University in Indiana are now required to purchase either an iPhone or an iPod Touch for nursing school. The purpose of this is to have current and easy access to medication information and medical terminology without the need to carry books around.
At my nursing school we were strongly encouraged to purchase a PDA with a drug program installed, for easy searching of medications, but I opted to lug around my books instead of buying an outdated PDA. But, I definitely would have been more apt to purchase an iPhone or iPod Touch because of its versatility and usefulness not only as a resource for nursing school, but in pretty much every aspect of my personal life.
Sure there are pros to using mobile devices in our profession, but what about the cons? Along with using this technology in a productive way, I can also see that having these tools could become an immense distraction. Students could fall prey to the many applications these tools are known for and miss out on learning opportunities in the classroom or clinical setting.
Overall, however, I believe that the implementation of these tools is a great idea. Especially for the younger generation who are already implementing many of this new technology, we might as well harness its power and use it for further education.
What are your thoughts on mandatory iPhone or iPod Touch for nursing school? Do you think it’s a good or bad idea? What other technology might be useful for nursing schools to implement?
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