25 Must-Have Mobile Apps for Every Nurse

This is a rapid reference tool for healthcare professionals caring for pediatric emergency and critical-care patients. The app gives professionals quick access to:

Dustin Cotliar, MD, MPH, is an emergency-medicine physician who calls this an outstanding point of care emergency pediatric app that will help nurses check physicians’ orders for errors.

“In my opinion, this app is an A+,” Cotliar says. “I use it all the time.”

$4.99

This app is available for iOS and Android.

This pediatric medical calculator has earned several awards, including being ranked #3 in the Pediatric Annals review of useful apps. The app offers instant access to weight-based medication doses, conversions, and intravenous (IV) fluid rates. The app has expanded functions, such as:

This app is easy to use with lots of functionality. New features include a dental numbering and eruption chart, extensive formulations, drug list with large font display, and blood pressure calculator.

$4.99

This app is available for iOS.

Board-certified physicians created this app for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and medical students. The app gives you access to over 270 clinical-decision tools like the following:

You can customize your menu to access your favorite tools, including the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale/Score, Richmond Agitation and Sedation Scale score, and ventilator settings.

This app is a powerful tool that strengthens your nursing practice through information and communication. You can use advanced filters based on specialty, disease, or chief complaint.

Free

This app is available for Android and iOS.

This point-of-care medical application offers information on drug dosage, interactions, and safety. You have access to:

The upgrade has additional disease information and treatment, alternative medications, labs, and International Classification of Disease codes.

This app is robust, the interface is user-friendly, and the information is presented cleanly and simply for quick comprehension.

Free or various levels starting at $16.99 per month

This app is available for iOS and Android.

When you’re caring for a pregnant or nursing individual, any medication they use must be safe for the baby. LactMed is not strictly an app for nurses but rather an easily accessed resource on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website.

Bookmark the link to the database on your smartphone. You can quickly look up information about any medication by searching the drug’s trade or generic name.

Not every drug guide has specific information about safe medications to use during pregnancy or lactation. LactMed provides just that.

Free

Gahart’s IV Medications Handbook contains information on more than 400 intravenous drugs. The app is designed for nurses and other healthcare professionals as a comprehensive resource for IV drugs.

The app has a searchable index and age-specific dosing information for pediatric, geriatric, and neonatal patients. All information is updated annually and contains black box or boxed warnings, dilution and dosage charts, and alphabetical drug monographs.

H. Eva Hvingelby, Ph.D., ACNP, has 21 years of experience as a healthcare clinician. She finds Gahart’s IV Medications Handbook an important resource and uses features on the app like its interactive calculators.

There is a free version that provides 10% of the content. Based on your subscription, you can access a range of content from $25.99 to $49.99.

This app is available for iOS and Android.

The app has an intuitive interface and is one of the easiest user-friendly personal finance apps. Spending Tracker helps you track your spending and stick to a spending plan.

You can choose to track your money weekly, monthly, or yearly. Generate reports to see your current spending progress and your main areas of spending. Quickly log your expenses and income and place your expenditures in categories for easy visualization of where your money is being spent.

Hvingelby recommends Spending Tracker to help nurses with budgeting. “It’s the easiest and most user-friendly and can help nurses stay on track as they move into jobs with better income,” she says.

Free with additional tools for $2.99

This app is available for iOS and Android.

Nursing can be stressful. When you don’t take care of yourself, you may experience burnout. The Headspace app helps put you in a better mindset using meditation techniques.

The app teaches you how to get a better night’s sleep, improves resilience to help you cope with change, anger, and sadness, and provides you with movement strategies to release stress and tension. There are hundreds of guided meditations, mindfulness exercises, animation to teach you new skills, and even emergency sessions when you are feeling anxious or stressed.

Free with extra tools for a monthly or yearly subscription

This app is available for iOS and Android.

Over 30 research studies have investigated UpToDate, demonstrating its connection to improved hospital and provider performance and patient care. This app for nurses contains clinical information on drugs and clinical management recommendations which providers can use at point of care.

Nurses can easily search and bookmark information. They can also print and email graphics and topics to patients to aid in education.

It offers evidence-based, up-to-date information and the best treatment options for diseases.

Free, but you need to subscribe to access the information

This app is available for iOS and Android.

The app is an organizational and productivity tool that helps build strong teamwork. However, it is also excellent for individual users to manage projects, tasks, and other calendar events.

The app is organized into “boards” to track workflow and assigned projects. Nursing students find it helpful to organize papers and tests while managing study schedules for exams like the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). You can customize workflows, create “to-do” lists, attach files, and collaborate on specific boards with colleagues.

The app is nimble, user-friendly, and able to expand as the project requires. There is also a calendar view showing what deadlines are approaching.

Free

This app is available for iOS and Android.

The app can be a perfect fit for caregivers as it allows them to track medications, meals, and prescription checklists. It also allows you to store documents and complete wellness journals.

Create a personalized “village” for caregivers so that it becomes the command center for activities and communication. Share to-do lists, checklists, notifications, and wellness journals to stay up to date on the status of your loved one.

One user says it is “excellent and helpful … for home carers and nurses.”

Free

This app is available for iOS and Android.

This obstetrics calculator lets you input the date of your last menstrual period, conception date, estimated date of delivery, or ultrasound date. You’ll get results for the following:

Nurses can track an unlimited number of pregnancies and keep notes on each patient. The app also allows for postpartum tracking.

The app keeps accurate data at a nurse’s fingertips for each prenatal visit and updates information.

$1.99

This app is available for iOS.

This app is designed to increase your productivity and focus. Nursing students can use it to manage their time and efforts. It boasts 40 million global users.

The app has a simple interface that helps you track time management. It also provides insightful statistics. The app uses “games” to help improve your concentration. For example, you can plant a seed in the app for a tree. When you stay focused on your task, the seed gradually grows into a tree. However, if you cannot stay focused, the tree will wither. The company plants real trees as users earn coins by staying on task.

It can be difficult to concentrate on school assignments and projects. With this app, students can improve their productivity and help the environment at the same time.

$1.99

This app is available for iOS and Android.

This app offers practice tests and flashcards for the NCLEX. This app for nurses uses flashcards to help you learn faster and remember more.

There are several modes such as slide show, quiz, and study. There are 2,400 premade cards in five categories. You can customize the cards, use text-to-speech to study without looking at the screen, and download an unlimited amount to your device for offline study.

In most states, you must pass the NCLEX to get your state license and practice. It is important to prioritize and optimize your study time to pass your NCLEX exam.

Free with an optional monthly subscription

This app is available for iOS and Android.

This app covers nearly everything you need to know at any stage of your career. You have access to more than 3,000 NCLEX practice questions with in-depth rationales. Track your progress toward your study goals and complete two-full NCLEX simulation tests.

The app guarantees that 99.7% of its members pass on their first try. Audio and video lessons are added each week. It also offers dozens of study methods, from mnemonics tricks to quizzes.

If you are studying for the NCLEX examination, this is the app you want to review and take practice tests. It can help you feel prepared and confident walking into the examination.

Free with access to more information through a monthly subscription or 1-3 month subscription

This app is available for iOS and Android.

The app contains a large drug database, medical calculators, illustrations, and high-resolution pill photographs. Included are independent clinical content from 12 healthcare associations, such as the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.

Information is focused on care provided by physicians, nurses, students, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics.

The large database of pertinent information rivals the UpToDate app. Some users like the interface on PEPID and others prefer UpToDate. Try both to see which fits you best.

Free

This app is available for iOS and Android.

The Medscape app is a powerful addition to your smartphone. It is designed to offer a personalized experience with the latest medical news in your specialty.

You have access to drug and disease information and continuing education for nurses — all free. There are more than 400 medical calculators, step-by-step procedural videos, and the most current safety information on over 8,500 prescription and over-the-counter medications, supplements, and herbal remedies. You can see the latest Food and Drug Administration approvals and up-to-date clinical trial data.

Medscape delivers access to nearly all the information a practicing healthcare professional needs to provide quality patient care, all at their fingertips.

Free

This app is available for iOS and Android.

A mnemonic is a short phrase or rhyme that makes remembering information easier. The app uses this unique learning method to deliver over 1,900 mnemonic techniques for nursing students to improve their memory and knowledge. The app covers a wide range of topics like the physical sciences, pharmacology, and surgery. You can search the database and filter the results by discipline and system.

You can also add your own mnemonics to the database, which will then appear seamlessly with others in the program.

Mnemonics are a proven method of learning and retaining information. This app is a study aid to improve your knowledge base using memory aids for a wide range of nursing topics.

$1.99

This app is available for iOS and Android.

Taber’s Medical Dictionary is a tried-and-true resource used by health professionals around the world. The current app is the 24th edition and contains:

The appendices have laboratory values, alternative medicines, acronyms, and medical abbreviations. Bookmark your important entries and highlight notes in any entry.

Taber’s Medical Dictionary has been the industry-standard resource for decades. Today you can carry it on your smartphone and access the information at point of care. This is a must-have for all students and nurses.

Free with an in-app purchase to upgrade

This app is available for iOS and Android.

This app combines five of the best-selling apps into an integrated clinical solution. Designed for nurses and students, it has information about diseases, tests, drugs, and procedures. The app is linked to the PubMed database for instant access, where nurses can search and study unfamiliar topics. The app contains:

The upgrades may be pricey, but it is well worth having all this information in one place for easy access while working.

Free with optional upgrades

This app is available for iOS and Android.

This is a professional-grade medical interpretation translator for healthcare providers. The app is designed for taking the history and physicals for nonEnglish-speaking patients.

The initial download comes with English and Spanish. You can download French, Mandarin, Russian, German, Cantonese, and Haitian Creole from within the app. There are thousands of translated questions and instructions organized by symptom, including a thorough physical exam section.

Once downloaded, the app can be used offline.

The app was tested in university and county hospital settings. Users were located in emergency departments, intensive care, and inpatient units. Each phrase used in the app was reviewed by at least two native speakers for accuracy and cultural appropriateness.

Nurses find the app helpful for admission assessments, physical exams, and follow-up questioning. You don’t have to rely on an in-person translator, such as a patient’s family or friends, to translate.

Free

This app is available for iOS.

This handy app has important clinical information, diagnoses, and useful websites related to lab values. You can edit the values according to the standards used in your hospital and write notes in the app. The interface allows you to search the database quickly, save favorites, and see the last 20 labs quickly.

The app is frequently updated, and you have access to support through email or Twitter.

Unless you read a lab value frequently, it can be challenging to make sense of lab results. With this tool, you have access to more than 320 lab values and lab panels, along with reference values.

$2.99

This app is available for Android.

Nurse burnout is an all-to-real challenge for nurses. This app helps beat burnout through mindful reflection, self-care, and motivational support. It has a one-of-a-kind Shift Reflection tool that helps you record how you feel after each hospital shift.

The process was created by well-being experts to prevent you from fixating on the negatives and untangle your emotions after work. You can also create a personal journal to look over your emotional trends and identify problem areas. Each day you can see a new video story to inspire your well-being and mental health. These include mindfulness mantras and positive affirmations.

Out of 50,000 U.S. nurses, 31.5% left their jobs in 2018 because of burnout. Keener uses proven strategies to reduce your risk of burnout and focus your energies on self-care.

Free

This app is available for iOS and Android.

Nurses have challenging careers and often struggle with work/life balance, which contributes to burnout. Using NurseGrid scheduling, you can take control of your work schedule, giving you 24/7 access to your schedule. You can also message your managers and colleagues directly through the app.

Compare your schedule with colleagues when you need to swap shifts or want to make off-duty plans with friends. Know who you’re working with and even put up your hand to pick up another shift.

This app makes it simple to find people to switch shifts, see your schedule, pick up extra work, and coordinate your work and home life.

Free

This app is available for iOS and Android.

There are thousands of educational models inside this app to help you understand how the human body works. Textbook definitions and descriptions are in several languages, including English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Japanese, and simplified Chinese. The basic app includes gross anatomy models that you can dissect with select microanatomy and sample animations.

This app is a go-to for nursing students in anatomy and physiology. Experienced nurses find it helpful for a reference and as a teaching tool for their patients.

$24.99 with in-app purchases

This app is available for iOS and Android.