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June 2010
Ipad: On the Plane and In the Boardroom
I got my iPad, the 3G model, as soon as they came out the last of April. I have been using at home mostly, and thus have not used the 3G capability until this weekend. At home, I use it to read the Wall St. Journal in the morning, and visit the website of my local newspaper to read the local news. I have both the iBook and Kindle Reader for iPad applications, and have books in both apps. The reading experience is much better than the Kindle, and the WSJ app is fantastic.
This weekend, I attended the June AANA Board meeting, and I thought it would offer me a good opportunity to see if I could get along with just the iPad and leave my laptop (a MacBook Air) at home. As Board members, we download Word® and Acrobat® documents from a private portion of the AANA website- agendas, background info, the budget, etc. I purchased a one-month, 250 mb 3G subscription for $15, and set off from Spokane to Chicago.
Ipad: On The Couch and On the Job
I asked two CRNA technophile "early adopters" to weigh in on their Ipads. First up, Mike 
"Go Big or Go Home" MacKinnon a newer graduate who has never found an electronic gadget he didn't need, and the owner of nurse-anesthesia.org ,is not afraid of technology or sharing his opinion.
Mike, has the Ipad replaced any of your other devices, like Iphone/smart phone, Laptop, Netbook, Desktop, Ipod touch, etc. ?
Hmm. I still use my iphone as it is easier to carry. So at work I have it with me in the pre op area etc whereas I keep my ipad in the OR to use for reference as needed. I have a TUN of anesthesia/medical apps on both. I would say that my desktop was replaced by my laptop and that my ipad has not replaced anything but filled a gap. The times where I do not want to lean over to use my laptop (hunched on couch etc) and times when im stationary in the OR or somewhere else, the ipad is easier and more fun to use/read.
Ipad - The Ultimate Gadget ?
Am I a Luddite or simply cautious in regards to technology ? What keeps me from purchasing an Ipad (aside from having to explain it to my wife) ? Hell, I don't even have an Iphone, (or smart phone for that matter, since I dropped Verizon-payback for all those dropped calls).
Well next week I am going to attempt to answer that question. I have contacted two infamous technophiliacs, Mike MacKinnon and Dan Simonson and asked them to explain how the Ipad has dramatically altered their view of life as we know it, or at least resulted in substituting one new electronic gizmo for another...
Anesthesiologists versus ASA Anesthesia Care Team Guidelines
In a May 2009 article entitled "The Standard of Care in Anesthesia....not what you think" , the Law Med Blog describes the jeopardy that Anesthesiologists face when American Society of Anesthesiologists Anesthesia Care Team (ACT) guidelines are used against them.
"...The ASA practice guidelines are inconsistent with state nurse practice laws and actually have the effect of putting the anesthesiologist at risk for litigation. Yet lawyers, insurance companies, risk managers and “experts” often use them as a benchmark for the practice of anesthesia by nurse anesthetists, much to their own peril...".
