UMASS nursing students at Boston and Lowell campuses are trading literally thousands of pages of medical reference texts for a state-of-the-art digital solution that puts the information, and more, right into the palms of their hands.

UMASS faculty and librarians observed that nursing students relied on medical reference books, many of which were bulky and heavy and not easily carried into the clinical setting.

UMASS Boston systems librarian Apurva Mehta and UMASS Lowell systems librarian John Callahan and assistant professor Patrick Scollin got together to see if there was a better way to utilize technology to make this information available at the point-of-care.

"Nursing is a hands-on discipline and learning shouldn't be restricted to a library. So Patrick and I put our heads together with Apurva, and set out in search of a way to help the students better access the material," said John Callahan.

"Our goal," said Patrick Scollin, "is to allow students to access information inside and outside of the classroom -- as well as in a learning environment like their clinical rotations -- where they really need the information on-hand."

While researching the options, the team at UMASS applied for and received a state grant for $18,000, and so began the PDA loan program at the campus library. Once word spread students quickly began signing up to borrow and use PDAs while on clinical rotations.

Now in the second year there are 35 PDAs for loan at both UMASS Lowell and Boston campus libraries. Five PDAs are held by professors instructing nursing clinical classes and 30 are available for loan to students at each library. There are 17 Skyscape medical references that were purchased for use on the Palm PDAs, some of those include:


* Evidence Based Diagnosis
* Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult
* Nurse's Pocket Guide: Diagnosis, Intervention, and Rationales.

UMASS chose Skyscape medical references for PDAs because of the patented smARTlink(TM) technology. With this system -- offered only by Skyscape -- when a topic of interest is selected, the smARTlink(TM) technology searches all other Skyscape applications on the PDA to cross reference the material and provide instant access to all information on that topic. This enables nursing students and professors to quickly access information on diseases, symptoms, and prescription drugs at the tap of a stylus -- which is not physically possible with print text.

The benefits of using the PDAs are seen by student and registered nurses alike -- especially when the students use them while in clinical at the hospital. "We've heard of situations where students are on rounds using their PDAs and the nurses are so curious that they rush over to borrow the students' PDA to check out the applications," said John. "It's really amazing; we never dreamed that we'd see such an overwhelming response."

And the students rave about the features constantly, added Patrick, "With easy access to reference material, students are smarter when with patients and able to provide better quality care, plus the reduction of possible errors by utilizing smARTlink, the students go on and on."

According to John Callahan, "The PDAs loaded with Skyscape references satisfy a professional goal for the students, similar to a stethoscope or medical book. And they don't want to give them up, so Skyscape instituted a discount program for students who want the references on their own PDAs."

With the loan program at the library, and with teachers using the PDAs with Skyscape references to teach classes, the students' use of the technology is being reinforced on all fronts.

"We couldn't be happier with the program, it has really become a resource that students expect," said Patrick Scollin. "But most importantly, is that they are becoming confident with the tools that ultimately will enable them to become successful nurse professionals. We're looking forward to continuing the program into 2007 and beyond."