Physicians are widely known as early adopters of smartphones, and that might be partly because they have been a popular subject for researchers conducting surveys about the impact of mobile health in hospitals. But a study last year by Wolters Kluwer Health’s Lippincott Williams Wilkins (LLW) of 3,900 nurses indicated in early 2012, 71 percent of nurses were already using smartphones professionally.
Later that year, a survey conducted by digital health communications firm Enspektos found that physicians were more trusting of medical information in their mobile apps than nurses were. That statistic complements another finding from the LLW nurses survey: Of the 71 percent of nurses who already use smartphones, 87 percent also want a printed version of the same content they have in their app.
Back in January 2012 we wrote about a New York Times report that profiled the increasing role smartphones were playing in nursing schools. The report noted that while nurses still must commit vast amounts of information to memory, reference apps act as a helpful and perhaps increasingly necessary supplement.
“It is not that nurses need to know less, educators say, but that the amount of essential data has exploded," the report said.
Last year Apple compiled a list of its picks for the top eleven apps available in the AppStore that are designed specifically for nurses. Most of these nurse apps have remained on Apple's list since it first published its iTunes section for healthcare providers. Here's Apple's roundup for the top 11 apps for nurses.
Voalte One is designed to be a unified communications solution enabling phone calls across the hospital VoIP system, text messaging via the user directory, and user-friendly alarm management. The company's name refers to the products basic features: voice, alarms, texts (vo-al-te).
