No mention if they have to return the devices at the end of their schoolong, though: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/couri...2260b0992.html

]Lone Star College-Montgomery nursing students have a much lighter load than their peers.
Licensed Vocational Nurse students at LSC-Montgomery are among the 71 nursing students using iTouch devices as part of their studies. The device gathers textbook information into a handheld device they can carry with them while seeing patients.

“It condenses all our books and guides,” said Joseph Quemsieh, LVN student from Spring. “It condenses it into one format in one thing in our hand instead of 50-pound books.”

Previously, students had to “lug” their textbooks to clinicials, said Linda King, LSC-Montgomery LVN instructor.

“We love having this,” she said. “The technology is at your fingertips. It makes for smart and efficient care. … I love mine. It has everything because no one knows everything. Not even instructors.”

A favorite feature for students is the pill identification and medication information applications, said Elizabeth Saavedra, LVN student from Houston. There is also an audio application that provides the pronunciation of drugs, said Sheryl Higson, LVN student from Cut and Shoot.

For the first two years in the field, nurses rely on information learned in college training and normally carry textbooks with them to look up specifics, said Gordon Carruth, LSC-Montgomery computer information technology professor.

“Instead of carrying a textbook, why not carry the (iTouch) that can be updated immediately,” he said.

The iTouch is similar to the iPhone, but without the phone technology, Carruth said.

“There’s a problem with having to leave a bedside to go back to the nurses station to look up information,” Carruth said. “So, we wanted to give them something in their hands so they won’t have to leave the patient.

“Now, instantly, they can have that technology at their fingertips.”

The iTouch program started in fall 2010 thanks to a $63,000 grant offered for creating an innovative way to cross disciplines. The iTouch program is a merger of the computer information technology and nursing programs.

“When they walk in they don’t necessarily have all the information in their head,” Carruth said. “That’s impossible. … This is also a teaching moment that they can actually show the patient what they’re doing so there’s not that disconnect between technology and the patient.”

The grant provided for 71 iTouches, accessories and associated applications, as well as a laptop for the clinical instructor and two video cameras and booms, Carruth said.

The iTouch also features videos of procedures students can view with a touch of their finger.

“Ultimately, the grant was to see if this technology was worthwhile in the future,” Carruth said.

In May, test scores of students using iTouch devices will be compared to test scores of students not using the technology.

“What we’re hoping is we can get the grant extended to all nursing students,” King said.

To learn more about Lone Star College-Montgomery, visit www.lonestar.edu/montgomery