In most respects, the tools a travel nurse uses to complete his or her duties are age-old and time-tested – empathy, patience and attention to detail, among many others. However, many travel nurses also make use of more modern tools to help them become more effective and responsible caregivers. The explosion of personal mobile devices like smartphones and tablets has led to a glut of valuable work aids and useful equipment. In fact, there are now so many effective tools on the market that it has become difficult for people with travel nursing jobs to keep up.
Here are some of the best tech tools for travel nurses.
Virtual to-do lists
The all-purpose to-do list has been around for decades, but this useful memory aid has recently undergone a comprehensive overhaul for the 21st century. There are many to-do options for smartphones and tablets, each with its own set of pros and cons. Because travel nurses are required to carry out so many tasks throughout the day and commit so much information to memory, it is important for these professionals to explore the growing pile of useful to-do programs.
Some to-do apps, like Astrid, include options to transcribe audio notes, a useful function for busy travel nurses. Other apps, like Todoist, make it easy to break tasks into sub-groups, which allows travel nurses to better structure their days and make sure they are completing every element of a given assignment. Still others, such as Wunderlist, allow users to sync information across multiple devices or save various lists in the cloud.
Spend a little time thinking about which features will improve your job performance the most to help you pick the right to-do list app.
Medical-specific tools
Although general-purpose apps like to-do lists can make a travel nurse's job easier, tools that are more healthcare-specific may prove to be even more useful. One example is Pill Identifier, which allows users to identify prescription medications and learn about their properties. Travel nurses need only enter the pill's imprint, size, shape or color to learn its medical and commercial names.
For nurses who like to stay current on medical news, another app, Medscape, sends regularly updated, breaking healthcare news to a variety of devices. Whether you are on your lunch break or need a piece of current information, this tool can be a valuable resource in a healthcare facility.
Note taking
In addition to writing down important tasks, travel nurses must also frequently record general notes about patients, procedures and shift reports. To-do lists aren't ideal for this task because they typically don't allow for longer entries. Luckily, there are several programs that allow nurses to record notes however they like, and many of the programs even recognize handwriting. Generally, these apps, like Evernote, are better suited to tablets, which can be combined with styli to make note-taking as easy and efficient as possible.