General Medical Reference

Quickly assess situations, and learn more about what is happening in the medical world. These reference apps offer a great store of knowledge that can help you refresh your memory almost instantly.

1. Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary: This Android app is a great way to learn and recall medical terms. Offers brief and helpful explanations of the most important terms and concepts in medicine. You can get a “free to try” version with limited features. Cost: $21.59
2. PubMed Mobile: If you are looking to get access to quick information about medicine, PubMed is a great place to look. The government clearinghouse offers plenty of information. Cost: Free
3. WebMD: Get access to the great information offered on WebMD. The consumer format can also help you convey information in a friendly manner.
4. Nursing Central: A comprehensive Android app aimed at nurses. Includes medical terms, disease reference and drug reference. Cost: $159.95
5. Mini Nurse Lite: You can get a number of helpful references on drugs, medical abbreviations and more. Ideal for beginning nurses or nursing students. Cost: Free
6. 999 Medical Anatomy Terms: Quiz yourself on medical anatomy terms. A helpful way to learn information, and boost your memory. Cost: $2.29
7. Harrison’s Manual of Medicine: Yet another comprehensive guide to medicine. Includes terms, as well as references to disease backgrounds and more. Great interface makes it easy to use. Cost: $59.95

Diagnosis

While you are not likely to actually be officially diagnosing any conditions, it can help to have a general idea of what you are dealing with. These Android apps are very helpful for nursing diagnosis.

8. Handbook of Nursing Diagnosis: If you are interested in diagnosis reference materials designed for nurses, this is a great choice. Get the help you need. Cost: $39.95
9. Davis’s Lab & Diagnostic Tests: This reference is designed for nurses, and offers a reference for diagnostic tests. Allows you to interpret results. Cost: $49.95
10. Health Guide: This is a helpful guide that allows you to identify different health conditions by their symptoms. Cost: $1.99
11. Diagnostic Imaging: Helpful information on diagnostic imaging. Samples of different images, a great reference for different imaging techniques. Can help you ability to diagnose. Cost: $2.99
12. 5-Minute Clinical Consult: A very helpful resource when it comes to diagnosing different conditions. Includes pediatric topics as well as other topics of interest in medicine. Cost: $79.95
13. Differential Diagnosis: This Android app allows you to discover different conditions by answering yes and no questions. A quick way to use symptoms to help you learn more about a patient’s problem. Cost: Free

Drug Reference

Dosing is an important part of a nurse’s job. Additionally, it can help to be aware of drug interactions, and the signs of side effects. Use these Android apps to assess different medications.

14. Nurse’s Pocket Drug Guide: You can learn more about more than 1,000 medications. This reference includes information and selecting and properly administering medical drugs. Cost: Free Trial
15. Drug Facts Gold: A great resource that allows you to learn about drug interactions and dosing, while at the same time providing helpful you with point of care decisions.
16. Nursing Pharmacology: A great resource for medications. Includes flashcards that help you improve your knowledge base. Learn drug interactions and more. Cost: $2.99
17. Mediquations: A helpful dosing calculator and can help you figure out proper dosages, so that you are more accurate with your efforts. Cost: $4.99
18. Infusion Calc: Get the lowdown on infusions. An Android app designed for nurses and paramedics, this a great tool that can help with infusion processes. Cost: $0.99
19. A2ZDrugs: Get helpful and quick information on different drugs, interactions, dosing and approvals. A great drug reference for helping you figure out exactly how to administer different medications. Cost: $49.95

Patient Care

Part of being a nurse is making sure your patients are comfortable and well cared for. You can enhance the care a patient receives with a little help from these Android apps.

20. RNotes: Designed to help you help your patients, this Android app allows you to keep notes, answer questions, and be more organized. Deliver better patient care. Cost:$29.95
21. Medical Spanish: This great Android app is designed for those who don’t speak Spanish to be able to help their Spanish-speaking patients. Allows you to get the information you need quickly. Cost: $6.99
22. Talk to Me: This is an awesome Android translation app that can help you translate your instructions, or understand your patients. A good way to increase your communication with patients who don’t speak English. Real time translator is available with Spanish, French, Italian and German. Cost: Free
23. Blood Pressure Tracker: Makes it easier to track your patients’ blood pressure. A quick and easy to assess patients. Allows you to track blood pressure trends, and receive information. Information is sent to the health care provider. Useful, and a good way to monitor those with a history of heart problems. Cost: $19.95
24. Techmedic: Another distance patient tracker that allows you to monitor patients without always being in the room with them. This is great for nurses who specialize in home care, or who work with ambulatory patients. Information can be received at a distance, alerting nurses to problems.
25. AgileMedCalc: A medical calculator designed to help with a number of different situations. This multifunction calculator is designed to enhance patient care by helping you with serum glucose, MELD score, weight conversions, calcium and more. A great resource for helping your patients and providing them with proper care. Cost: Free

Work-Related RN and Nursing Groups

1. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists: This group is for CRNAs who are seeking new opportunities for employment.
2. CRNA Direct: This is a group for all the CRNAs on Facebook.
3. Demystifying Community/Public Health Nurses: This group was started to explain the roles of the community and public health nurse.
4. Emerg-Plus Health Care Services — RNs: Emerg-Plus Health Care seeks RNs, RPNs, and PSWs for short- and long-term assignments in area hospitals.
5. Forensic Nurse Examiners of Louisiana, Inc.: You must request to join this group comprised of nurses who provide forensic nursing care to all victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.
6. I’m a Labor and Delivery nurse: This group focuses on maternal child nursing.
7. Mental Health Nursing: This is a group for mental health practitioners, nurses and students to discuss and review topics of interest.
8. Nurse Educators Group: The Nurse Educator’s Group was formed for registered nurses that work in staff development, clinical education or academic settings.
9. Nurses/Legal Consultants: This group consists of nurses who work as legal consultants, who assist attorneys, insurance companies, etc.
10. Registered Nurse: Jobs are posted, information provided, notes are posted to other nurses and the group is open to the general public.
11. Registered Nurses: You must request to join this private Facebook group, which currently has just over 4,000 members.
12. Registered Veterinary Nurse: Members must hold the title of RVN, AHT, RVT, RAHT and must be registered in good standing within the respective Provincial Association in which she/he practices.
13. Rutledge Recruitment and Training: This recruitment agency offers temporary and permanent jobs in nursing and healthcare fields.
14. Stalwart Staffing: This business specializes in providing temporary, temp-to-perm and direct hire staffing services to healthcare facilities.
15. Traveling Medical Professionals: This group is designed for Medical Professionals who travel or do “contract” work.
16. U.S. Military Nurses: This is a social networking group for Army, Navy, and Air Force Registered Nurse officers.

Organizations

17. All Species Nurse, LLC: This is an organization that brings together professionals in human and veterinary medicine.
18. American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants: The AALNC is dedicated to the professional enhancement and growth of registered nurses practicing in the specialty of legal nurse consulting.
19. Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC): This group promotes the professional development of nurses involved in the delivery of health care to persons infected or affected by HIV and AIDS.
20. Campaign for Statutory Minimum Nurse Patient Ratios: This group supports a statutory minimum ratio of nurses to patients on hospital wards, with penalties for NHS trusts that fail to achieve those ratios.
21. Certified Emergency Nurses: Although there are CENs throughout the world, the CEN exam is based on emergency nursing practice in the United States.
22. Nurse and Healthcare Worker Protection S1788: Senate Bill S 1788 would provide standards that would help mitigate potential injuries related to patient handling.
23. Reflections of Woman: Encouraging wellness for women with eating issues: Three nursing students began this group to raise awareness and to offer support for individuals with eating problems.
24. Registered Nurses are Not Paid Enough! According to this group, RNs are “grossly underpaid,” and they want to gain support for RN job security.
25. RNFA, Registered Nurse First Assistants: This Facebook group page serves as a discussion area for RNFA interests.
26. Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist SRNA/CRNA Anesthesia Association: This group is open to the nursing student, Registered Nurse, Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist SRNA, Nurse Anesthetist CRNA, or Anesthesiologist MD.
27. Support Underpaid Nurses: This group seeks to let the world know about nurses’ wages, and hopes to gain the government’s interest.

Nurses Outside the U.S.

28. CPDme.com Online Development for Nurses, Midwives & Health Care Assistants: CPDme are a group of academic health and social work professionals who work across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
29. Indonesian Registered Nurse Association (IRNI): This organization supports RNs who work in Indonesia.
30. International MedLink, Inc.: IML is an international nurse recruiting, placement and education company based in Nashville, Tennessee and with offices in Manila and Cebu, Philippines.
31. Nigerian Registered Nurses (NRN): This Facebook group is a social and supportive group for nurses who practice in Nigeria.
32. Nurses against extortionate annual registration fees: This UK nurses’ group is gaining support against nurse registration fees that seem exorbitant.
33. Nursing Jobs in Australia: Join this group if you want to tap into Healthscope, a leading Australian private healthcare provider.
34. Philippine Nurses: Members include student nurses, registered nurses and other medical fields.
35. Registered Nurse in the Philippines: Any RN who is from the Philippines can join this Facebook group.
36. Registered Nurse’s Society of the Philippines: This is a group of Registered Nurses of the Philippines practicing the the profession physically, mentally, morally, spiritually through the guide of Philippine Nursing Act of 2002.
37. Registered Nurses: This is a social group for nurses and student nurses to share feelings and to “discuss apartheid between male and female RNs.” This group is based in the Middle East.
38. Save the Nurses: This group is out of Ontario, Canada, where it appears that healthcare facilities are cutting RN jobs and reducing the hours of nursing care.

Support Groups for Nurses and RNs

39. Are you man enough to be a nurse? Male nursing is becoming more and more popular and for good reason — there are many opportunities and good pay.
40. Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul: Share your stories, you feelings and your compassion with this Facebook group, which focuses on the joy and trials of nursing.
41. I Am a Registered Nurse: Share your stories, ask questions, look for guidance and support from this Facebook group geared toward RNs.
42. I’m a Registered Nurse: This group is for any RN living or working anywhere in the world.
43. I’m watching HawthoRNe and Nurse Jackie — AND I’m a nurse! This group is participating in a discussion on whether these two television shows accurately reflect the RN profession.
44. I Love Being A Registered Nurse!!! This group is for anyone who currently is, or is going through college to be a Registered Nurse.
45. My Wife is a Registered Nurse: This group supports those who support registered nurses when they return home.
46. Nurse Citizen: This group focuses on the RN who is multifunctional in any nursing service setting.
47. Nurses Roc!! This group is for health care professionals and those seeking to enter the career of nursing.
48. Remind me why I want to become a nurse: You must request a membership to this group, comprised of student and practicing nurses who want to vent and who need support.
49. RN Connect: Connect with registered nurses all over the world sharing a common interest of delivering quality patient care to patients.
50. RPN’s Group (Registered Practical Nurse’s Group): All RPNs are welcome to join this group, which is a forum to share the joys and accomplishments of practical nursing.

Nutrition

What you put into your body is a big deal. It matters. You can use these Facebook applications to help you monitor what you are eating and improve your nutrition, as well as be accountable for your food choices.

1. Nutrition Data: This app comes from the respected site of the same name. The idea is to help you understand what is in your food, and learn to read food labels. A great help when it comes to helping you make more informed nutrition choices.
2. Nutrition Diary: Helps you keep track of what you are eating, and helps you figure out which foods are healthy. Lets you search by products or by food ingredients. A fun way to be accountable for your food choices, and learn to make better choices.
3. Diet Tips: Get help with weight loss and with helpful hints related to food choices. Receive regular tips and nutrition ideas from Nutritionpedia.com and learn what it takes to eat right for better health.
4. Calorie Counter: Keep track of what you are eating, and see which foods have more calories than others. Calorie Counter helps you figure out what is in your food, and it helps you figure out what you need to do in order to burn those calories off.
5. My Diet: Keep track of what you are eating, and share your profile with Facebook friends. Get support as you log your food choices and get healthier.

Exercise

Physical activity is a must if you want to remain healthy. Combined with a healthy diet, exercise offers the main ingredient for good health.

6. Fit-ify!: Keep track of your workouts, and share with others. Contains hundreds of exercises so that you can see how you are doing, and track your progress.
7. Yoga: This app helps you with yoga poses, and helps you learn how to improve your yoga practice. Yoga can help you improve flexibility, strength and can even be done as cardio.
8. Cardio Trainer: Use this application to help you train for better fitness. Also works as a mobile application. Track your performance in biking, walking, running and other cardio activities.
9. Map My Run: Mapping and logging tools help you keep track of your route, and help you train more effectively. Use Map My Run to get in shape — and stay in shape.
10. Your Shape Picture Progress: See your exercise progress in action with this app. Upload regular pictures, and the app will show your progress as you exercise to get into shape. A great way to keep motivated, since you can see the results!
11. ShapeLink.com fitness log: Share your fitness results and progress automatically with your Facebook friends. Cool way to stay motivated and increase your exercise.

Mental Health and Brain Training

What goes on in your mind is important as well. Your mental state can affect your physical health, as well as your happiness. Use these Facebook apps to help you improve your mental health, train your brain and feel happier.

12. More Brain Exercise: Keep your brain in tip-top shape with these games meant to improve brain flexibility and other abilities. Fun games that challenge you mind.
13. How is Your Mental Health?: An app that helps you keep up with your own thoughts and feelings, and helps you take a step back to recognize problems you might have.
14. Sunnybrook Mental Health: An application designed to help you find support for mental health issues, and provide support to others. Post messages of support, and read through messages for a lift.
15. Mind Games: Another great brain training app that can help you improve the way your mind works and stave off dementia as you age.
16. Numbrix: This cool number game can be played on Facebook. A good way to get your brain working, and to help train it — and even to get your mind off your troubles for a while.

Relaxation

You can feel better with a little relaxation. Relaxing is good for the body, helping it re-charge. It can also help you improve your mental health, helping you feel better about the way things are going in your life.

17. Spiritual Bliss: Get access to helpful items that can aid in your relaxation, meditation and spiritual growth. A great way to unwind and find your inner you.
18. Zen Meditation Chimes: Choose when you want a reminder to relax and meditate. Help bring yourself into a state of relaxation with these beautiful chimes.
19. Heart of a Buddha: Find inspirational quotes to help uplift you, or to meditate on. A great way to enjoy your alone time, and ponder some of life’s pleasures.
20. Stress relief: Help relieve your stress with help from this Facebook app. Provides you a way to blow off a little steam.
21. Mandala Art: These beautiful pictures can help you focus your energies on meditation, and can provide a helpful aid to relaxation.

Relationships

Healthy relationships are an important part of your health and happiness. How you interact with others is a big part of your holistic health, as well as for your state of happiness. These apps can help you develop better relationships.

22. NaughtyNotes: This is a fun way to keep a little spice in your romantic life. You can send a naughty note to your partner — and read notes sent to you. Sure to keep thinks sizzling.
23. Dopplr: This is a great way to keep in touch with friends. You can build relationships, and see where your friends are, allowing you to set up meetings.
24. Neigborhoods: This is a cool app that allows you to get to know those in your neighborhood. You may not know them yet, but this app may help you make new friends.
25. Marriage Ticker: Be reminded of all the good times with this app that keeps track of how long you have been married in years, months and days. You can also get great information on modern and classic anniversary gifts.

You don’t have to be a nurse or some other health care professional to know that our society, as a whole, needs better health. If you are interested in leading a healthier life, you can get some interesting information with these 20 infographics on different aspects of health.

Food and Drink

Obviously, what we eat and drink represent some of the biggest obstacles to healthy life. What we put in our bodies can improve health — or hurt it. In some cases, it may not even make a difference. Here are some infographics describing what some health care research has found about different food and drink.

1. Dietary Supplements: We think of vitamins and dietary supplements as ways to help us get proper nutrition and maintain health, without having to eat foods we don’t want to. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. In many instances, taking dietary supplements just may not be worth it. This interactive infographic from Information is Beautiful offers the scientific evidence for different dietary and health supplements.
2. Tap Water: Where do you live? It may make a difference in whether or not you should be drinking tap water. Get a look at the contaminants is 10 major cities’ water systems. And get a strong dose of reality: Not everything that ends up in tap water is regulated. This inforgraphic from GOOD can be a real eye opener for those who are trying to figure out how to save money (and the planet) by drinking tap water.
3. Bottled Water: But if your tap water is dirty, does that mean bottled water is the answer? Perhaps not. Not only is it more expensive, but some bottled water has contaminants as well — especially the from the plastics used to make the bottles. Online Education has an infographic that lays out the facts of bottled water, including what’s really in it, and how much room bottles take up in landfills. Bottled water isn’t that great, plus it’s expensive and bad for the environment. Maybe it’s time for tap water after all. Provided it is properly filtered.
4. Price of Junk Food: One of the several reasons that millions of  Americans are suffering from obesity and other health problems may be due to the fact that it is much less expensive to buy junk food than to buy healthier options. Indeed, this simple, yet stunning, infographic from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the inflation adjusted prices of different foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables have seen a rise in prices, while soda has dropped dramatically. Indeed, fruits and vegetables cost more than anything else.
5. Soda: Millions of Americans get a significant amount of their sugar and calories from soda. Soda is one of the biggest sources of health problems we have. This infographic seen on Shatter Limits offers a look at the basic stats on soda. It also includes information on how drinking soda can increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, obesity, gout and metabolic syndrome. So put down that soda and reach for some water instead.
6. Calories per Dollar: For an interesting look at fast food and caloric intake, this infographic on Top Cultured (via thebigmoney.com) presents the calories per dollar that might shock you. Look at the calorie counts in popular items of fast food, and then see how many calories are packed into each dollar that you spend on fast food. If you are counting calories — or just looking for ways to increase the amount of healthy foods in your diet, this infographic can be quite enlightening.
7. Shop Local: Interested in finding local and/or organic produce? It’s possible with this handy organic produce shopping guide. GOOD offers an infographic describing what is available in different states, at different times of the year. While you may not get something exactly local, you can find places where organic produce is relatively close to you, and so you can increase the chances that your food has not traveled that far to get to you.

Health and Disease

Get a crash course in what’s going on with health trends and with disease. You might be surprised about what you discover about health and disease from these inforgraphics.

8. American Obesity: Because obesity carries with it so many other related health problems, it is widely considered to be the health threat of our time. In fact, even the First Lady, Michelle Obama, has started a campaign designed to help draw attention to obesity in children. Obesity has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other ailments. You can learn about obesity by state, as well as what obesity costs. This colorful and interesting infographic from Weight Loss Diet Watch provides eye popping insight.
9. Healthy Behavior: How does your state stack up in health behavior? Gallup offers a look at health behaviors by state. This report is based on number of people smoking, eating healthy, and exercising. The healthiest state is Vermont, followed by Hawaii. The least healthy state is Kentucky, followed by Arkansas. Indeed, the South has a number of states in the top ten unhealthy states. It’s an interesting look at some of the behaviors in the U.S. — and it could provide some helpful insight into your own state’s healthy behaviors.
10. Mental Health: Get an idea of how healthy your state is in terms of the mental side. Find out which states have higher amounts of psychiatric in-patient and residential treatment beds out of every 100,000 people. It’s an interesting map that may shed some light on where you might have a better chance of finding mental health support if you should need it. It’s an interesting look at how the states in the U.S. stack up in terms of mental health.
11. Disease Fatalies: This is an absolutely fascinating infographic from Information is Beautiful detailing how likely you are to die from different diseases. It is a simple, yet informative look at the fatality rates of diseases you are probably familiar with. It’s no surprise that untreated AIDS is the disease most likely to result in fatalities. And, given the hysteria over swine flu, you might be surprised to learn that only a small percentage of people die from the disease.
12. Cost of Drugs: Learn about how prescription medications increase in cost over the years. Prices go up, and can get expensive. This infographic from USA Today illustrates the increasing prices of drugs. Of course, if you live a healthy life, you have less of a chance of needing prescription drugs to manage your conditions. Indeed, it is even possible to keep diabetes at bay and reduce your chances of heart attack when you eat healthy and exercise.
13. World Health: Interested in how the U.S. really stacks up in terms of health and health care? You can see with this infographic from GOOD and from Way Shape Form. The infographic puts, in very easy to read format, the average life expectancy in different countries, as well as how much those countries spend on health care. The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy of any developed country, but spends more than any on health care. Also includes infant mortality stats, and other interesting information about the state of health in difference countries around the world. An interesting look at where different countries stand in terms of health care.
14. Health Care Reform: Health care reform has been a topic of interest, and a bill just passed Congress and was signed into law. Are you interested in how the latest bout of health care reform will affect you? If you are interested in learning about your options and costs with the latest health care reform bill going into effect, you can use this infographic from the Center for American Progress to easily see how it will work for you, whether you have insurance now, or whether you will need to get in the future.

Habits and Health Practices

Is what you are doing affecting your health? Learn how what you do can have very real impacts on your long-term health.

15. Smoking: How does smoking affect you? Get a look at the essential facts on smoking from this infographic that breaks down the basics, from how many people smoke, to how many deaths each year are attributed to smoking related causes. Also looks at secondhand smoke and the difficulties many encounter when trying to quit. A great, comprehensive look at this legal, but dangerous activity that many are still engaged in.
16. Death and Drugs: Your habit may not be as deadly as you think. This infographic from Information is Beautiful offers a look at media coverage of different drugs, as compared to how deadly they are. Even though alcohol is more deadly than cannabis (pot), it is covered much less in the media. This is an interesting look at the hysteria over some drugs — and a bit of a commentary on what we accept in society.
17. Price of Inebriation: Interested in how much it costs to get inebriated? This infographic allows you to interactively see how much inebriation you can get per milliliter of alcohol, depending on the product and the proof. An interesting way to see how much “value” you are getting out of your alcoholic drinks. You can change the look of the infographic, tailoring it to fit your needs, allowing you to read the information in a way that makes the most sense to you. Find out how cost-efficient your alcohol habit actually is, and consider changes you might want to make.
18. Burn Calories: Interested in knowing how hard you need to work out in order to burn off different popular foods? This clever infographic from a guy at 5W Infographics illustrates different activities, and how many calories they burn. It also represents how many calories are in different foods. It’s a very interesting look at exercise and eating. Maybe if we really knew how much exercise we would have to do in order to burn off the calories from our food, we would eat less junk and pay more attention to healthier options that require less work to burn off.
19. Brain Fitness: How fit is your brain? The things we do now can affect how health our brains our in the future. If you are interested in seeing what is being done in terms of brain fitness and information, this infographic at SharpBrains can be enlightening. It offers a look at different opportunities to increase brain fitness, as well as who is taking action to increase brain fitness. It’s an interesting look at neurosoftware products and other brain fitness issues.
20. Impact of Cars: Your driving habits (and the habits of others) can have an impact on health. Indeed, in sensationalized reports of things that cause death and injury, cars are often overlooked. However, this infographic from Infrastructurist puts into perspective the fact that cars cause millions of deaths every year, and tens of millions of injuries. It also looks at deaths and injuries according to the wealth of the country. And that doesn’t even include the incidence of sickness and death related to the pollution that cars produce.

Cruise ships are miles from anywhere, out in the ocean, and having a nurse on board can mean the difference between life and death for some passengers as they wait for other medical attention when needed. Here are 25 of the top cruise ship nursing blogs, as well as blog posts on cruise ship nursing. You can find information about being a cruise ship nurse, travel nursing in general, cruise ships in general, and learn more about jobs available on cruise ships.

Blogs on Cruise Ship Jobs and Cruise Ship Nursing

These blogs look at life on cruise ships, the jobs available and tips about cruise ship nursing. Many of these blogs are written by insiders who know exactly what is happening in the world of cruise ships.

1. Cruise Job Insider Blog: Learn about different jobs available on a cruise ship, and learn about the need for nurses on cruise ships, and what you can do to become a cruise ship nurse.
2. sunnyislandbreezes.com: Follow the adventures of this traveling nurse, as she moves from place to place, peddling her skills. An interesting look into the possibilities, including helpful information about cruise ship nursing.
3. P & O Ships Nurses: Learn about requirements of ship nurses, as well as what you need to do to qualify yourself for a job as a cruise ship nurse.
4. Saipan Nursing Blog: What do you do if you’re a nurse in the Pacific? Saipan Nursing Blog offers interesting news, insight and information on nursing, travel nursing and cruise ship nursing, with special focus on Saipan.
5. Cruise Jobs: Learn about different jobs available on cruise ships. Includes helpful information on cruise ship nursing, as well as information on what life is like when you live on a cruise ship.
6. Travel Nurse Aim: Learn about what it’s like for this nurse traveling the world with her family as she offers her services, including some insights on working on a cruise ship.
7. The Nursing Show: Nurses from a number of fields and backgrounds, including cruise ship nurses, offer their thoughts and opinions on nursing.
8. Travel Nursing Blogs: Gain insight on career advice for all kinds of travel nursing. Find answers to questions you might have about being a cruise ship nurse, and keep up with the latest news and information.
9. Travel Nursing Blog: Ask Mark your questions about nursing on the go, including cruise ship nursing. Find other information on how to make a career out of travel nursing, and even information on how to get on cruise ship.
10. Cruise Ship Blog: Get the inside skinny on different types of cruise ships, the jobs available, and how you can be a nurse on a cruise ship.
11. John Heald’s Blog: This is a blog written by a cruise director at Carnival. It’s an interesting blog that can give you a good idea of how things are run on a cruise ship, and whether it might be right for you.
12. Travel Nurse Jobs Companies: Learn more about travel nursing, including cruise ship nurse information and resources for learning more about cruise ship nursing and travel nursing.
13. Highway Hypodermics: Provides a look at travel nursing news, as well as what you can do to enhance your career. Also includes helpful insights on cruise ship nursing.
14. Travel Nurse Source: Helpful articles and information on different aspects of travel nursing, including cruise ship nursing and the challenges related to being on call so much.
15. Cruise Law News: Get insight into what happens on cruises, and the legal implications. A very helpful resource for those interested in protecting themselves and understanding more about possible opportunities and pitfalls.

Blog Posts that Address Cruise Ship Nursing

Here are some blog posts from nursing blogs and other sources that focus on the career opportunities available with cruise ship nursing.

16. “Cruise Control” from NurseWeek offers an inside look at a nursing career aboard a cruise ship.
17. “Career Cruisin” from MinorityNurse looks at life on a cruise ship as a nurse. Learn about the unique career opportunities that are available on a cruise ship.
18. “Nursing Jobs on Cruise Ships…” from Sunshinebob’s Blog looks at the opportunities you have to meet others and forge lasting relationships when you follow a nursing career on a cruise ship.
19. “The Rewards of Being a Traveling Nurse” at Nursing Training and Tutor provides a look at the different opportunities and rewards that comes with travel nursing, including working on a cruise ship.
20. “How to Work As a Nurse on a Cruise Ship” from eHow lets you get a step-by-step look at what you can do in order to become a cruise ship nurse.
21. “Nurse at Sea…” from InteRNational on Healthcare POV tells the story of how one registered nurse found a career as a cruise ship nurse — and then found her true love.
22. “Dear Cindy – Nurse Jobs on Cruise Ships?” from MedHunters offers a checklist of requirements for those wishing to to be cruise ship nurses. Great resource on what it takes to succeed as a traveling nurse on a cruise ship.
23. “Cruise Ship Nurses Have Their Cake and Eat It Too” from American Chronicle looks at the job of cruise ship nurses, the requirements, and the perks.
24. “Cruise Nursing” at Associated Content offers a good look with regard to what it’s like to work on a cruise ship as a nurse, and what requirements you need.
25. “Cruise Line Medical Staff” from JobMonkey.com includes a number of different medical jobs available on cruise ships. This includes jobs in cruise ship nursing.

Nursing Plan Basics

Learn the basics of what nursing plans are all about, and how they can be useful.

1. Nursing care plan: This entry from Wikipedia outlines what a nursing plan is, and provides helpful hints on how to prepare one.
2. Care Conference Format: This is a helpful checklist on how to run a care conference, in which you get together with other care providers to develop or evaluate a care plan.
3. VCU Libraries: Offers a look at evidence-based medicine and provides resources on trials and reviews, as well as care plans.
4. Creating Nursing Care Plans: An overview of what a nursing care plan is, and its usefulness.
5. Medicaid Planning Basics: This crash course in financial literacy can enhance your performance as a nurse as you understand some of the challenges associated with planning around the requirements of Medicaid.
6. Basic Nursing Care Study Tools: Get an idea of what you need to know as a nurse, and learn different treatments available for use with care plans.
7. Virtual Careplan Tool: Get help with your nursing care plan with this PDA tool.
8. Basics and Standards of Care Planning: Understand the guidelines associated with putting together a nursing care plan.

Putting Together a Nursing Care Plan

You want to know how to properly put together a nursing care plan, and these resources offer great places to look for helpful hints.

9. Transitional Care Planning: Learn how to perform an assessment and put together a care plan.
10. VirtualNurse: Learn the characteristics of a good nursing care plan, and how to create one.
11. CareScribble: Get access to a tool that can help you with nursing plan creation and management. It costs money after a 15-day trial.
12. Depression Treatment Plan: This plan shows you how to go through the steps to create your own treatment care plan for depressed patients.
13. EHS: This is an actual constructor program that can help you efficiently create a nursing care plan.
14. ADHD Central: Details how to create an effective nursing care plan, specifically aimed at those with ADHD.
15. Journal of Nursing Education: A look at how nursing care plans can help students, and how to construct these plans.
16. The State of Texas: A great tutorial on how to create a nursing care plan.
17. eHow: Get step by step instructions on building your own nursing care plan.
18. Moby’s Electronic Care Plan Constructor: It costs money, but is a great resource for creating care plans.

Nursing Plan Samples

Get samples of nursing plans. You can find examples of plans that have worked, and use them as bases for your own plans. Tweak as needed.

19. Scribd: Offers a number of different nursing care plans especially aimed at neonatal and postnatal health.
20. RN Central: A wide range of different nursing care plans that can be adapted to your needs.
21. Treatment Plan That Worked: Some great plans that actually produced the desired results.
22. Careplans123: This site is devoted to helping you look for nursing care plans.
23. Careplans: A comprehensive site that helps you develop your own plans, with help from a variety of sample care plans.
24. Medi-Smart: Learn about where you can find different nursing care plans and see examples of plans that you can use.
25. Nursing Crib: Access to sample nursing care plans that can help you see how different situations can be handled.
26. Comprehensive Nursing Care Plans: Just what it sounds like, you can get access to a number of plans to help you be a better nurse.
27. Wellsphere: A variety of treatment plans for different conditions.
28. CNS: Samples of problem oriented nursing care plans that can be used to help you tailor plans to your patients’ needs.
29. Clarion University: This sample plan is aimed specifically at helping those affected with eating disorders.
30. Innercept: Long term care plan for those who have needs that go beyond the short term.
31. Explore Autism: Offers treatment care plans and resources related to the autism spectrum.
32. New Mexico State University Library: Links and resources to nursing care plans and resources.

Case Studies

Looking at case studies can provide information and insight for nursing care plans. And some case studies even outline care plans that can be used in similar situations.

33. Medical Simulations: Go through a number of medical simulations that can help you better understand nursing care.
34. The Nurse Friendly: Interesting studies in clinical nursing.
35. University of Utah: Helpful pathology case studies that can provide insight into a number of medical issues.
36. Loyola University: Fascinating pulmonary case studies that can be of use for creating nursing care plans.
37. University of Michigan: Clinical case studies offer useful insight into gross anatomy.
38. Washington University in St. Louis: Learn about a number of cases, both with and without diagnoses.
39. University of Pittsburgh: More pathology cases studies from a medical school. You can learn a lot, searching by diagnosis or by patient history.
40. Nova Southeastern University: Using case studies to develop nursing methodology.
41. Marshall: This interactive online case study offers an interesting and enlightening look at medicine, geared especially for nurses.
42. Centers for Disease Control: Environmental medicine case studies offer another perspective to nursing and care plans.
43. Community Health Nursing: A number of conditions can be studied through these case studies.
44. Epocrates: This nursing case study is interactive and interesting, and provides helpful insights that can aid you as you create a nursing care plan.

Additional Nursing Resources

You can find nursing care plans, forms and other helpful information related to medicine at these nursing sites:

45. allnurses.com: Learn about different conditions and get first hand knowledge and help from other nurses.
46. Health Care POV: A number of nursing topics and helpful answers to a variety of questions. You can share your knowledge as well.
47. NurseConnect: Find other nurses, getting support and learning from pooled knowledge.
48. Nurse.com: This is one of the places for nurses. You can share pictures and insights, and benefit from what others share.
49. Ultimate Nurse: Information, answers to questions and other issues related to nursing can be found here.
50. Nursing Voices: Share your experiences with an understanding and supportive community.

General Nursing

These blogs are written by those who have a great deal of experience with nursing. Get helpful insights on the generalities of being an RN.

1. Nursing Law and Order: This is an interesting blog about the legal and ethical issues that face nurses.
2. Death Maiden: This is a fascinating look at death from a nurse’s perspective. A good way to prepare yourself for this unpleasant part of nursing.
3. In Our Own Words: Blog submissions from a number of RNs about the professional and matters of interest to nurses.
4. Nurse Ratched’s Place: A spunky look at nursing from the perspective of an active RN.
5. Evidence Based Nursing: A look at nursing research and information to help nurses.
6. Online Nursing: Inside scoop on nursing at this blog. Includes nursing issues from around the world.
7. Emergiblog: The ins and outs of life as an emergency room RN.
8. Gotham Nurse: Blog from a murse who shares insight into life as a critical care nurse in Manhattan after being an RN in Canada.
9. Digital Doorway: The stories of an RN on the road around the country, looking for a place to settle down.
10. Night Time Nursing: Read about the adventures of a night-shift nurse.
11. The Nursing Site Blog: Learn about nursing, and issues related to health care.

Labor and Midwife Nursing

If you are interested in the miracle of birth, you can read some of these blogs to learn a little more about what it’s like to be an OBGYN nurse or a nurse midwife.

12. At Your Cervix: A great blog about what it’s like to help usher babies into this world.
13. Rebirth: The blog of a former labor nurse who is now a nurse midwife.
14. Navelgazing Midwife: Insight into birthing and midwifery.
15. 10 centimeters and beyond: Interesting stories and insights from a labor nurse.
16. Hands for Catching: This blog is written by a woman who is training as a nurse midwife.
17. Nurse Anesthetist: An interesting look at what goes on with a nurse anesthetist. While not strictly related to labor and delivery, this blog does include those who get pain management while giving birth.
18. Tales of a Labor Nurse: Stories and information on birth from a labor nurse perspective.
19. Empowering Birth Blog: Stories and information on midwifery and nurse midwives.

Nurse Practitioner

If you plan to take things a step further, beyond the RN label, you might consider becoming a nurse practitioner. Here are some great practitioner blogs.

20. The Nurse Practitioner’s Place: A helpful resource for all things related to being a nurse practitioner.
21. What school doesn’t teach about being a nurse practitioner: A down-to-earth look at what it’s really like to be a nurse practitioner.
22. A Nurse Practitioner’s View: Get the inside scoop on different issues related to health care and nursing.
23. New NP: This blog is a great look at what it is like to be a nurse practitioner for a newbie’s points of view.
24. Nurse Practitioner Business Owner Blog: A practical blog for those who want to start their own practice as a nurse practitioner.
25. The Nervewracking Nurse Practitioner: Learn about what it’s like down in the trenches when it comes to being a nurse practitioner.
26. Advanced Clinical Consultant’s Blog: This nurse practitioner writes about advanced clinical care and other issues.
27. www.npplace.com: Learn about life as a nurse practitioner.

Specialty Nursing

Many nurses have specialties, whether it is cancer, emergency room, intensive care or other types of health care. Here are some specialty RN blogs.

28. oncRN: Learn about what it’s like to be an oncology nurse, dealing with people who have cancer.
29. The Intensive Art: Musings from a male RN working in intensive care.
30. On Touching and Saving Lives!: One cancer nurse’s experiences and insights.
31. The Cancer Journey: This nurse writes about cancer and caring for patients.
32. Crass-Pollination: An ER nurse’s blog with some perspective on working as an emergency room RN.
33. ER RN: A funny look at what life is like as an emergency room nurse.
34. Madness: Tales of an Emergency Room Nurse: This look at the madness of the emergency room is a bit cynical, but full of insight.
35. Code Blog – Tales of a Nurse: The adventures of an intensive car nurse.

Travel Nursing

One of the fields of growing interest is travel nursing. Learn more about these nurses who travel while taking care of others.

36. Ask Conrad!: If you have any question about travel nursing, this blog is devoted to answering it.
37. The Travel Nurse: First-hand knowledge of travel nursing who gave up staff nursing for the freedom of the road.
38. Travel Nurse Aim: This mom brings her family on the road as she does her job as a travel nurse.
39. Have RN Will Travel: Great blog on what’s like to be a travel nurse — and how you can be one yourself.
40. I Love Travel Nursing: Everything you need to know about various subjects related to being a travel RN.
41. Travel Nurse Source: Get valuable insight on travel nursing, as well as nursing programs that can help you get your RN.
42. Go Travel Nursing: Helpful tidbits and tips on being a travel RN.
43. Highway Hypodermics: A fun look at life on the road as a travel nurse.

Nursing Students

Sometimes it can help to have a little perspective on what is going on for nursing students today. Here are some great student RN blogs.

44. Naughty Mursing: The adventures of an alpha-male English major who has decided to go RN.
45. Student Nurses’ Notes: Helpful hints on reducing the stress of nursing school.
46. Life of a Male Nursing Student: Learn about nursing from the perspective of a wannabe murse.
47. RnLife.com: This is the blog of nursing student learning the ropes.
48. Not Another Nursing Student Blog…: This mental health nursing student writes about the challenges of learning to be an RN.
49. Dear Nurses: Helpful hints for nursing students and for professional nurses.
50. The Makings of a Nurse: Follow the journey of someone who wanted to be a nurse, but, after 10 years is finally going to school to be an RN.

The following forty must-know Google hacks and tips for medical professionals also includes links to show how to use these tools or download them for immediate use. You can organize, simplify and gain insight into your health information with everything in one place.

Google Health

1. Google Health Groups: Anyone can use these health groups to learn more about various health topics from a peer or professional perspective.
2. Google Health: This Beta application allows patients and medical professionals to organize and share information securely.
3. Google Health Directory: Browse through categories within the Health Directory and search Web pages by page rank or alphabetically.
4. Google Health Knol: Knols are units of knowledge, and this category contains over 6,000 knols for health and medicine.
5. Google Medical Search Engine: Use this search engine for medical terms and information, minus the spam.
6. Google MT: A useful search engine for medical transcriptionists.
7. Google Scholar Advanced Search: Save time and get more precise results by using the advanced option for your Scholar searches.

Google Docs

8. Why Google Docs? Read this short article and watch the videos to learn more about how Google Docs can help your medical business. Be sure to follow the links at the end of the article to learn more about how to use various apps.
9. gDocsBar: This sidebar extension for Firefox allows users to drag and drop multiple files into that sidebar to upload documents. This tool also comes with templates, Webclips and Smart Folders.
10. GMDesk: Download this app (uses Adobe Air) to gain access to all your Google programs as well as other programs on your desktop or laptop with a simple alt-tab shortcut (CMD-tab for Mac).
11. Templates: Using Google Docs has never been easier for medical professionals and their patients, especially if you take advantage of over 300 templates that range from weight training to medical health trackers and group expense sharing.
12. Keyboard Shortcuts: Invest some time in learning these shortcuts to save time in the long haul.

Google Mobile

13. Google SMS: Simply text message a search query to GOOGLE (“466453″ on most devices) to receive results.
14. Google Maps: Download Google Maps to your phone for easy navigation. This link also takes you to the new Google Maps Navigation (Beta), a turn-by-turn GPS navigation with voice guidance.
15. Google Search: Download this Google Mobile App to use Google Search in your mobile.
16. Sync Your Email: Don’t worry about missing contact information on the go if you sync your mobile to your Google account.
17. Sync Your Phone Numbers: Google Voice provides you with one number for all your phones, with voicemail as easy as email and more with this integrated mobile app.
18. Google Android Better for Med Apps: Learn more about why the Google Android might be better for your medical practice.
19. Medical Software for Android: The medical apps are starting to build for Android. This list will provide you with the most current additions.
20. Google 411: You can use any phone for this service – just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) and state the location and business type to connect to that business at no charge.
21. Health Cloud: This native iPhone app is available for Google Health clients who want to gain access to their health account via their iPhone.
22. View Documents: Gain access to documents, spreadsheets and presentations for free any time and from anywhere with Google Docs on your mobile. Use your phone to visit m.google.com/docs.
23. Create Task Lists: Use your phone to visit gmail.com/tasks to keep track of what you need to do.
24. Calendar Tracking: No need to sync your Google calendar to your mobile. Just use your phone to visit m.google.com/calendar.

Google Quick Search Tips

25. Google Health Onebox: Type an ailment, such as “Alzheimer’s” into the Google search box and the results will show pointers to Google Health and other sites that deal specifically and professionally with that disease. Learn more about this tool at Google Blogoscoped.
26. Create a Custom Search: Do you have a number of sites that you search continuously? Create a custom search for these sites and more with this tool.
27. Image Search: Type in the search word, then select the Images tab to find an image to match that search word.
28. Enter Blocked Sites: If you can’t enter a site, type “cache:website address” with the “website address” being the address of the blocked site.
29. Find Related Information: Use the “related:www.website.com” in the Google search box, replacing the “website” with the address of your favorite medical resource to find similar sites.

Medical Mashups

30. Avian Flu: If you have an interest in this possible pandamic, you can get the latest information from this Google Earth mashup. You must install Google Earth 4.0 to view the maps correctly.
31. FLU.gov Map: This mashup is a combination of government information overlaid on Google Maps.
32. Health Map: This mashup provides information as a global disease alert map that also contributes news, reports, official sources and community contributions.
33. HubMed: Try this alternative interface to the PubMed medical literature database. You can latch on to an RSS feed of daily updates of search results as well as export citations and use the Citation Finder to convert reference lists from PDFs into search results.
34. Who is Sick? Search and filter for sicknesses by location, time, symptoms, sex, age and keywords. You also can discuss issues and provide feedback. This site also provides summary analytics that show sickness trends and current outbreaks.

Other Tips

35. iGoogle: Build a custom page to capture information you may need on a daily basis, from news to search boxes to calendar information.
36. GMail Tips: This link provides five essential tips on how to save time with email. Learn how to apply “Waiting for a Response” label, eliminate forgotten attachments, quick links and more.
37. Google Wave: If you haven’t received an invitation, sign up now to be on board when this tool goes public. Google Wave is a real-time communication and collaboration tool that can be used for brainstorming, groups projects, meeting notes and more.
38. News Alerts: Use Google News alerts to monitor content about your brand or about breaking news in the medical field.
39. Predict and Prevent: This is part of the Google.org project to address global challenges. The Predict and Prevent project focuses on emerging health and environmental threats that affect health and well being. This page also links to Google Flu Trends.
40. Trends: This video shows a possible mashup between Google Health and Google Wave. Scroll down to take a look at several other medical projects for the future.

Physiology and Anatomy

It always helps to have reminders about the make-up of the human body. Physiology and anatomy open courseware can help you keep your knowledge fresh.

1. General Human Anatomy from the University of California Berkeley can help you get a look at the different systems in the body, and how they work.
2. Human Growth and Development from Tufts University provides insight into how the human body develops from birth to death.
3. Gastroenterology from MIT takes a specific look at the gastrointestinal system, how it works, and the disease that can cause problems there.
4. A Clinical Approach to the Human Brain from MIT offers a look at how the brain works, and provides a look at different diseases that affect the brain. One of the features of this course is that it looks at the anatomy of the brain, region by region.
5. Cardiovascular Pathophysiology from Tufts University approaches the cardiovascular system and how it works, as well as some of the diseases that can cause problems with the heart.

Diseases

There are a number of diseases out there, and it can help to be acquainted with the way infections and other problems affect the body. A course on disease can help keep you up to date on the latest treatments, as well as help refresh you on how to care for them.

6. Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases from Johns Hopkins University looks at the anatomy of an epidemic and how infectious diseases spread.
7. Pathophysiology of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism from Tufts University provides an in-depth look at the kinds of diseases that can affect metabolism, and takes special care to look at diabetes. A great help for those who interact with patients who have chronic endocrine problems.
8. Images of Memorable Cases: 50 Years at the Bedside from Connexions provides an image-rich experience of interesting case studies. The focus is on medical diagnosis, and it can be a very helpful course for those who want to better serve their patients.
9. Biography of the AIDS Epidemic: Creating an Oral-History Project from Columbia University presents two e-seminars that follow the AIDS epidemic, and offers a look at the history of treatment, providing insight into today’s resources available to fight the disease.
10. Avoiding Genomic Instability: DNA Replication, the Cell Cycle, and Cancer from MIT offers a look at how cancer results when the natural process of DNA replication in the body goes awry. An interesting look at the development of cancer, and different treatments for it.

Biology

Since a lot of health care stems from biology, it can be helpful to have a grasp of some of the basic biological concepts. These open courseware helps can give you a better understanding of how things work when you start looking at some of the smallest systems in the body.

11. Introductory Biology from MIT offers a basic look at biology, and the building blocks of the human body.
12. Microbiology from Tufts University provides insight into microbiology. This is a look at how viruses and bacteria develop, and their roles in the body, as well as their roles in the creation of disease.
13. Genomics and Computational Biology from MIT provides a look at the workings behind gene sequencing and how it impacts health and the body.
14. Biological Agents of Water and Foodborne Bioterrorism from Johns Hopkins University is an interesting course about biology, and the biological agents that can be introduced into water and food to cause widespread health issues.
15. Public Health Biology from Johns Hopkins University is an interesting course that looks at biology and how it relates to public health. A great course for those interested in the wider impacts of human biology and the biology of disease.

Mental Health

This is an important aspect of health care. It is vital to understand how to help those with mental health problems and issues. Here are some open courseware classes that can help you increase your knowledge of mental health.

16. General Psychology from the University of California Berkeley provides a basic look at human psychology from a variety of angles.
17. Challenging ideas in mental health from Open University offers a chance for you to look at mental health from a new perspective, examining old ideas and new, and thinking critically about current mental health treatments.
18. Psychology of Personality from the University of California Berkeley addresses the mental aspects of personality, and how personality develops. Also addresses some personality disorders.
19. Mental health practice: Bonnyrigg from Open University looks at a definition of mental health, and then goes on to deconstruct the elements of a mental health practice and how to be a better practitioner.
20. Psychiatric Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University provides a look at major mental disorders through different stages of human development.

Health Care Industry and Administration

Part of being a good nurse is understanding the health care industry, and how to be a good administrator. This is especially important if you are interested in career advancement. These open courseware classes can help you get a better handle on administration, caring and the health care industry.

21. Professional Issues in Nursing from University of Massachusetts Boston offers a look at the issues that come with nursing today.
22. Medical Terminology from the College of Eastern Utah provides a helpful refresher on common jargon that can help you keep up to date with what is going on in a professional medical setting.
23. Caring in Hospitals from Open University addresses different issues associated with hospital work.
24. Food and Nutrition Policy from Johns Hopkins University looks at the policy issues involved in nutrition science, as well as other health related policies.
25. Managed Care and Health Insurance from Johns Hopkins University provides an in-depth look at the health insurance industry, as well as how managed care works.

Make a shopping list for food items: Whenever, you are going to buy a grocery just don’t jump to the buying you should arrive at a shopping place with a properly created list and especially for the food items that are at the same time are cheap as well as good for health. This way you can save good amount of money otherwise wasted over random shopping.

Avoid Eating Processed Food: Consumption of processed food is an expensive deal and at the same time in quality, freshness and hygiene they are not anyway equivalent to natural food. Natural foods are not anyway altered, however, processed foods happens to be mix with a number of preservatives and chemicals.

Buy Seasoned Food Articles and Supplies:  Procuring a seasoned food article is nice method to have a cheap and healthy diet and that too in abundance. The seasonal goods are supplied in huge quantity in the market due to production period for them thus are provided with the best quality and freshness.

Buy from Wholesale Market: Buying food articles from the Wholesale market on the weekly basis can helps you save handsome amount of money on food articles instead from the retail market. Buying from the wholesale market not only saves you money but also ensure the freshness of the product directly reaching from the granary or field.

Take Benefit of Sales: To pile up food article like purchasing 20 to  30 cans of tomato paste at 5 cents per can and same thought for other food items though good idea to save money on food items.

Use Store Brands: There are many a good number of brands in the market that are cheaper you can try them for your purposes after testing and being bit assured about quality.

Gardening: Gardening is another innovative and noble way to gather cheap items as you would produce them on your farmland thus would be involved in the process without much cost except your hard work and labor.