Apple Watch Series 5: a smartwatch that does it all

The most popular watch on the market is a solid choice for nurses who care about their own health, too.

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It seems like everyone has an Apple Watch these days. And if you’re an iPhone user who doesn’t have one, it may be the next nursing gear upgrade that you’ve been looking for. With functionalities focused on health and fitness, the Apple Watch can provide you with feedback about your own health while helping you care for the health of your patients.

First Impression

This section is a little different for me because I’ve owned an Apple Watch since the Series 1 was released back in September of 2016. Ever since I bought that first watch I’ve been a huge fan and have recently upgraded to the Series 5, which I believe is by far the best iteration of the Apple Watch so far. Out of the box, the Series 5 looks super sharp in the Space Gray Aluminum casing that I chose, and the screen looks sharp, bright, and easy to read. The adjustable black band is easy to put on once you do it a couple times and feels nice and comfortable.

Comfort

Putting the watch on, the plastic band feels very soft compared to my worn out Series 1 band, and is also adjustable to many wrist sizes (every watch comes with a small and a large band, based on your wrist size and preferred fit). I chose the Nike branded model, which comes with a specialized sport band that you see in the pictures. My previous band didn’t have these holes and I really can tell a difference when I first put it on.

Screen

The Series 5 comes in 2 different screen sizing options; a 40mm or a 44mm. I always go with the bigger size because I like more screen but this is really up to you and either model will work fine as a nurse. One great feature about the Series 5 (and why I recommend it to nurses instead of the Series 3/4) is the “Always-On” display, which means that the screen will always display the time, even when your wrist isn’t raised or you aren’t actively touching the screen. With my old Series 1, I often had to choose between touching my watch face with a gloved (and probably contaminated) hand, or not being able to see the time. I also struggled to see the time when I was in isolation rooms because the screen wouldn’t light up while being touch through the gown. But with the Series 5, I can always see the time and I never have to contaminate my watch to do so. This has been an absolute game changer (especially in the Covid-era) and I don’t think I could go back to the old screen now.

This is what the “Always-On” display looks like in its resting state. When you raise your wrist or touch the screen, it will brighten back up to normal.

Tracking

If you care about tracking your workouts and other health stats, which a lot of nurses do, then you will really enjoy the Apple Watch. The tracking is extremely intuitive and really makes working out and health stats enjoyable and easy to read. I use my watch to track my workouts outside of work (tells me HR, calories burned, time spent working out, etc) as well as my activity at work (hours standing, steps taken in a shift, resting and active HR). There’s something very rewarding about checking your stats after a long, busy shift and seeing how many miles you walked and when you heart rate spiked or dipped. I realize not everyone is into tracking, and if that’s you, don’t worry. There are other uses for the Apple Watch if you are a nurse.

Screening Calls/Texts

When you are taking care of patients, you often get so busy that you don’t have time to sit for more than a few minutes, let alone enough time to take your phone out of your pocket. But while we take care of patients for 12 hours, the world still continues to turn and things happen throughout your shift that you probably need to know about. The Apple Watch is a fantastic way to stay connected to family, friends, and loved ones during your shift without requiring you to be sitting down on your phone. It does this by providing notifications for all calls, texts, and emails to your wrist (I have mine set on silent mode, so the watch simply vibrates when I get a call or text). Being able to see your message by just looking at your wrist allows you to read messages quickly and decide whether you need to respond immediately, or if you can wait until your next break. You can even write out messages onto the screen to be texted out, but I will admit that it is a little cumbersome to do and I usually just take my phone out if I need to send out a quick message while I’m working. Overall, this is my favorite feature of the Apple Watch and a big reason why I wear it during every shift in the ICU.

Apps

I talked about how much I enjoy the health tracking features on the Apple Watch and how I love using the Messages app to quickly read texts while at work. But the truth is, there are so many more opportunities to utilize this watch at work to improve your patient care. One of my favorite things to do is to set alarms and/or timers on my watch to alert me of different things that might otherwise slip my mind during a shift. Gave a pain med and need to reassess in 1 hour? I can quickly tap the timer app and select the “1 hour” option. It seems simple, but this can also be a game-changer at work when I’m super busy and it really helps keep me on track when I have a lot of things going on. The app store is filled with creative ideas that you can implement into your everyday nursing practice, but even just the stock apps will make your shift so much easier to handle.

Conclusion

As you can tell, I’m a big fan of the Apple Watch Series 5 and would recommend it to any nursing student or new grad nurse looking to gain an edge when it comes to patient care. The price tag is high compared to the other more basic watches, but the endless features and customization of this watch make it perfect for any nurse out there.

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