DAVIS ELECTRONIC DRUG GUIDE FOR NURSES 2.0
F. A. Davis 1915 Arch St Philadelphia, PA 19103 Telephone: 800-523-4049 Fax: 215-568-5065 Web: http://www.fadavis.com E-mail: [email protected] Price: $49.95
The Davis Electronic Drug Guide for Nurses 2.0 is the electronic version of the 7th edition of the Davis Drug Guide. The software is designed to provide comprehensive up-to-date information to nurses involved in drug administration. Access to more than 4,900 generic and trade drugs is included. Free monthly updates are also available from the company's Web site. The information is accurate and user-friendly. The professional nurse as well as the nursing student will find this software extremely useful in their individual practice. The ease of search in the electronic version allows the nurse to find drug information quickly.
The software lists drugs by both trade and generic names. The user may search by typing the first few letters of the drug. The software searches its listings alphabetically with a drop-down list for the user to choose the particular drug in which he or she is interested. The user highlights the drug, and a monograph appears. The monograph is listed by generic name, with common trade names in parentheses. An audio link is available for the user to hear proper pronunciation of the generic name. The audio quality is extremely good. Full-color pictures of commonly prescribed brand names are available.
Drug monographs include drug classification, indications, actions, pharmacokinetics, contraindications, adverse and side effects, drug interactions, route, and dosage. Nursing implications are listed according to the nursing process with assessments, common nursing diagnoses, implementation measures, and evaluation cues for therapy effectiveness. Patient and family teaching points are also indicated. The nursing implications are succinct and well written.
The software also lists drugs according to 47 drug classifications. Drug classifications are listed with a pharmacologic profile for general use, action, contraindication, and interactions. Nursing implications for all drugs in the classification are also listed according t o nursing process. Common drugs in the classification are listed alphabetically, with a link to the monograph. The left-hand side of the screen lists the general headings so the user may click easily on the information requested.
Patient-education handouts are available for drugs according to classification and may be easily individualized to the patient through a software link. Individualization allows the addition of the patient name, particular drug and dose, and agency name and referral numbers. Additional patient information may be added to the patient handout. The handout is written in easy to understand language.
There are 20 appendices on the CD-ROM, with common reference charts for the nurse. An easy-to-use drug calculator is also included, which addresses conversions, infusion rates, and calculations for dose per kilogram. All information may be printed for future reference. The user may also use the copy-and-paste function to copy information and paste it to another document. This will be useful especially to nursing students when creating drug cards.
The software uses either Netscape 4.0.4 or Internet Explorer 5.0 as a Web browser interface. Both are included in the software. An Internet connection is not necessary to run the software but is necessary to access the suggested links. The software is on a CD-ROM that must be in place to run the software correctly. A site license may be obtained from the manufacturer. Installation was easy, listing the software under programs with an icon. According to the manufacturer, the software is both Windows and Mac compatible; however, I only installed it under Windows.
Minimum system requirements (available for Windows and MacIntosh): Windows-Pentium 90 MHz, Windows 9X 256 color display, 8X CD-ROM, 16 MB RAM, hard disk with 6 MB free, 8-bit audio sound card required; Mac-Poser PC 120 MHz, Mac OS 8.0, 256 color display, 8X CD-ROM, hard disk with 6 MB free, 16 MB of available ram.