Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Pilot Project A.Ruth Chastain, EdD, RN Jill Webb, PhD, RN Rosemary McLaughlin, MSN, RNC

Spring 2003 Question What is the effectiveness of using handheld/ PDA devices for nursing faculty and students in the clinical lab experience at Union University School of Nursing?

Spring 2003 Literature Review Personal experience AACN Standards TNA convention presentation Nursing literature Colleagues  Schools of nursing Web sites  Nurse Educator List-serv

Spring 2003 Methodology Descriptive Inquiry About:  Advantages  Disadvantages  Personal experiences  Shared experiences  Student feedback

Spring 2003 Procedure PDA’s purchased for 3 faculty members A technical support person assigned Nursing software installed Used in clinical areas of:  Medical/surgical nursing  Skills practicum  Psychiatric nursing

Spring 2003 Results - Advantages “PDA envy” Information depth Current information Adaptivity Beam capacity

Spring 2003 Results - Advantages Interest and cooperation from software publishers Outcomes interest by software publishers Reference books in PDA format Disciplinary freeware  Other freeware 

Spring 2003 Results - Advantages Increasingly technologically connected  Expanded knowledge for faculty and students  Information available at point-of-care  Demonstrated to potential students and families that Union University School of Nursing was aware of current technology

Spring 2003 Results - Disadvantages Learning curve as with any technology Cost Data loss potential Hardware requires respect Confidentiality issues  Ethical and legal demands  Potential violation  Problems may be overcome with system security

Spring 2003 Results - Disadvantages Student expectations – faculty must direct use in clinical setting Personal web access helpful and preferred Heightened attention to test security

Spring 2003 Conclusions/ Implications Recommend for all school of nursing clinical faculty  Provide an orientation to PDAs  Phase in faculty use  Formal faculty discussion about recommended software for faculty and students – c/c text decisions

Spring 2003 Conclusions/ Implications Recommend but not require for nursing students Optional alternative to reference books beginning fall 2003 to entering students Provide and introduction to PDAs for junior and senior students

Spring 2003 System Recommendations Recommend to students  At least 16M  Palm OS  Color, lighted screen  Expandability  Explore

Spring 2003 Are you considering PDAs? Explore discipline specific data bases available Obtain 2 or 3 professionally specific proprietary programs for a pilot study Evaluate need carefully – not a toy

Spring 2003 Future Considerations Anticipate time required for programming Acquire experienced technical support Determine potential impact on Computing Services resources

Spring 2003 Still MUCH to Learn QUESTIONS?