What is that orange pill I found?

When in doubt, it makes sense to check out the monographs, if available, in your drug guides. Print ones are not often updated as quickly as online ones, so for a recent question on my floor, we headed to the internet.

First, we checked http://www.epocrates.com/ and searched through their medication lists based on what a couple other nurses thought the mystery pill was. ePocrates will give you a picture of the pill if you know which drug you are looking for in a list. You cannot search for a drug by color or shape of the pill or capsule.

For testing purposes to see if there was a database to search by color, we used LiveSearch and found this site: http://gsm.about.com/pid/main.asp on http://www.about.com/ which allows you to plug in pill shape and color. Once complete, you will get a list (also with photos, if available, and markings) which can help you identify your pill. This helped us identify the mystery pill as a generic Xanax 1mg tab. The markings also helped us hone in on the exact pill, even if the photo was not available.

Another web site of interest we encountered today was http://www.pdrhealth.com/. It is another web site from the PDR desktop folks with information specifically directed to consumers. In particular, there is an interesting section on drug trials and recently FDA approved medications.

Alas, the old adage to check it out really is true, and the internet makes the resolutions even faster.

iPhone link

I found this link while surfing around the other day:

iPhoneMedicine

Dr. Salvatore Volpe has lots of information regarding various products and services available for iPhone. The latest news, which was really interesting to me, is that ePocrates is working on a version for iPhone. You can access ePocrates online version on your iPhone right now. You can see what it looks like at the ePocrates site.

And yes, Dr. Volpe, if they port Unbound Medicine and Skyscape apps to iPhone, I'm gonna ask Santa for one.

ePocrates deal

Lo and behold, I look in my e-mail box today, and ePocrates has a 20% off deal at www.epocrates.com until October 4 on its Essentials product.

Use DLXPROMO in the discount code box.

What do you carry in your pockets?

With all the stuff I have to carry around as I work on the floor, I could not live without my PalmPilot TX. I got mine while I was in nursing school after my clinical instructor showed me hers. She also told me about a great program called ePocrates, which incorporates drug guides, calculators and other reference tools, such as lab and diagnostic test information in one package. It sure beats carrying around a med book, notebook and calculator since it's all on your Palm. Cost varies based on subscription length and version of ePocrates (Essentials, Deluxe, etc.) you choose.

ePocrates

Pros:

• It has a history feature that shows you what you've already looked up.
• The look and feel is similar to going through a file and easy to figure out once you sit down and play with it.
• You can also set it up to update daily through your PDA using a home or business wireless connection.
• A free version is available if you are interested in trying it out before you buy it.

Cons:

• This resource is written primarily for physicians, so nursing diagnoses, assessment, and implications are not readily available in this product.

Nursing Central

While ePocrates is a program written primarily for physicians, Nursing Central, is a similar product for your PDA written especially for nurses. I have been using this product for the past month, and I really appreciate the various features.

This suite incorporates Davis' Drug Guide, Taber's Medical Cyclopedia, Medline journal abstract information, as well as disease and lab test information. Cost $150. Discounts are often available if you download the trial version.


Pros:

• The layout uses drop down menus and is also easy to navigate.
• There is a free trial version available if you want to try before you buy.

Cons:

• There is no history feature, so if you have to go back to a med or test later, you have to start all over again.
• Reading some of the charts (if you don't pay attention carefully to the instructions) can be difficult.

There are other nursing programs out there worth investigating. Check out handango.com to see the wide array of products for nurses, such as RN Crash Cart and IV drip calculator.