Surface Pro 3 and Me

Since I wrote my first post on the Surface Pro 3, I have received an explosion of emails from my nursing colleagues. A common question I get is how do you use it, Melissa?

I must admit, sadly, that I do not own a Surface Pro 3, but I can tell you exactly how I would use it if I had one. Trust me, I have spent hours fantasizing about this laplet, so this will probably be the easiest post I have ever written. 

As many of you know, I am currently in a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, and I am working as a curriculum developer. I have also worked in the clinical setting as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. I can envision the Surface Pro 3 helping me out in all three of these scenarios. 

SCENARIO #1:

Melissa the Doctorate Student

As a student, I would use the Surface Pro 3 as a productivity king. I would order all of my textbooks electronically and keep them organized using an app like Barnes & Nobel Nook or Amazon Kindle. Having my textbooks in digital form would be quite the load off my back and the environment. 

I would use Microsoft OneNote to create digital notebooks/binders for all of my classes. During each class, I would likely import the PowerPoint presentation into OneNote and use the Surface Pro 3 stylus to take notes along the side. I would also read all the assigned journal articles on this laplet and again use the stylus to take notes in the margin. 

I imagine myself also owning the Surface Pro 3 docking station, so that I could still connect an external monitor at my home office. 

I usually bring my Google Nexus 10 with me to class, but I still have to lug my binder, notes, textbook, and pens along with it. It does not run Windows operating system, and there is no easy way to edit Word or PowerPoint documents. It also only has 16 GB of storage space, compared to the 128-512 GB of space that the Surface offers. Not to mention, all of my assignments are saved on my computer at home, so I have to upload everything I might potentially need during class to the cloud. None of these things are the Nexus 10’s fault. It is just a tablet. 

The Surface Pro 3 along with a water bottle and snack, would probably be the only items I bring to class. I can’t imagine needing anything else. If any of my readers are using the Surface as a student, send me screenshots. I would love to share them. 

SCENARIO #2:

Melissa the Curriculum Developer

Right now, I am developing a psychiatric nurse practitioner masters level curriculum for a university. This job involves creating everything from the course syllabi to the PowerPoint presentations. Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like work because it is so fun. 

I imagine the Surface would be helpful as would any laptop or desktop. What really makes the Surface stand out to me is the ability to make unique pencast presentations like the ones Khan Academy produces using the Surface pen. I think this would be just awesome. You can learn more about pencase presentations here, and if I ever get a Surface Pro 3 myself, I’ll be sure to post a tutorial. I love pencase presentations. I feel like I learn so much from them. 

SCENARIO #3:

Melissa the Nurse Practitioner

Here is a summary of my last job as a consultation-liaison psychiatric nurse practitioner:

I head into my office in the morning and check my email on my desktop computer (my laptop doesn’t have access to my email). I receive a consultation on my pager. I use the desktop computer to log in to the electronic medical record (EMR) and search for the patient by manually typing in the ID number from my pager. 

I pull out my laptop to print off a consultation form (the desktop couldn’t print) and begin filling out the information that I can: room number, past psychiatric history, medications, medical diagnoses, recent vital signs, and so on. I gather my things: lab coat, binder full of standardized psychiatric assessment tools and patient education handouts, hospital phone, pager, laptop, business cards, cellphone, reference book, pen, and clip board. 

I head out in search of the patient’s room, dragging all my stuff with me. I arrive on the unit, review the case with the nurse while balancing everything in one hand and jotting down notes with the other. Finally, time to see the patient. 

I walk into the patient’s room, introduce myself, sit down, and start the psychiatric evaluation. I take notes using a pen, clipboard and my consultation form. I need to administer the Montreal Cognitive Assessment so I fumble around with all the stuff in my lap until I’m finally able to get a blank copy out of my binder. I administer the test. I copy the results onto the consult form. 

I decide to write a prescription. I discuss the risks, benefits, and side effects of this medication with the patient who consents. I tear a blank sheet of paper out of my binder and write instructions for the patient. I fumble around again with all the stuff in my lap until I get the laptop balanced on top. I wait for it to turn on. I finally log in to the EMR and submit an electronic prescription. (By now I have this thing called a tension headache). 

I say good bye to the patient and step outside the room. I summarize my notes into a short paragraph and copy them into the paper chart. I tell the nurse what’s going on. I pull out the hospital phone in my pocket and start dictating the consultation.  

I head back to my office, log into my desktop computer, check my email, and review the dictation (my laptop didn’t have access to the dictations). I would do this 5-8 times/day across a hospital network of 3 campuses and 990+ patient beds. 

There are so many glaring technology problems in this story. First, why do I have a desktop and a laptop that can each only do half of what they are supposed to do? Second, why do I have two phones and a pager? Why do I have to carry around a reference book, a paper consultation form, patient education handouts, and standardized assessments? 

It’s probably obvious now why I am so excited about the Surface Pro 3. The Surface could have solved all those problems. First of all, I could have used it to check my email, print documents, access the EMR, take clinical notes, complete a standardized psychiatric assessment, provide patient education, write electronic prescriptions., do my dictations, and check my dictations,. DONE. The Surface Pro 3 just eliminated the technological and environmental waste of my day. Not to mention it would have made me more productive. 

Side note, I think it would be awesome if Microsoft could develop some sort of Surface Pro 3 case (like the one’s made for the NFL) that prevents the kind of damage that can occur on an inpatient psych unit (if you know what I mean). 

So there you have it. The Surface Pro 3 would be an excellent companion in my student meets academia meets clinician life! Questions? Don’t hesitate to email me or comment below. Happy holidays everyone.