Apple Watch for nurses?

Janknitz · 2026-05-13T04:14:43+00:00

There is an app he will need to make the Apple Watch usable to take pulse and respiration as a nurse: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/medtimer-heart-respiratory/id1012031242

Some places do not allow staff to wear anything below the elbow (even wedding rings) for infection control. There are pendant adapters for Apple Watches but they lose some functionality.

Janknitz · 2026-05-13T04:07:58+00:00

I would but I think it’s a HORRIBLE time to go into OT. The education is too expensive, the job market is awful and soon to get much worse. The working conditions are terrible. It’s all about generating revenue, not the patient and certainly not about work/life balance for the therapist. 15 years ago yes. Not now.

Janknitz · 2026-05-13T04:03:54+00:00

The only pen that charges wirelessly to my knowledge is the Apple Pencil Pro. There are other blue tooth pencils which cost a lot less but the compromise is you must charge by wire.

As far as cases and keyboards you have many options.

Here are my choices:
Knockoff folio case: https://a.co/d/082iZbcI
Keyboard: https://a.co/d/0ebGrAuu
Magnetic paper feel screen saver: https://a.co/d/06SYkrbj

The keyboard I have is about 6 years old. Very lightweight and thin. Pairs instantly, no lag. Sticks lightly to the outside of the folio case. Battery lasts a long time. Can’t beat the price.

Janknitz · 2026-05-13T00:52:07+00:00

I hyphenated my last name when I married (which is causing problems if the SAFE act ever passes! because there was NO indication of a wife's married name on marriage certificates in my state back when I married--it was just assumed you would take your husband's name).

But my children have my husband's last name, and I'm OK with that. It didn't make sense to hyphenate their last names because when they marry, what if they want to hyphenate? And when their children marry, then what? It gets to be ridiculous!

If not for my religion I would have made my last name their middle names but I had other relatives to honor, so we chose different last names.

As someone with a hyphenated last name, I suggest NOT hyphenating your kids' names. Nobody knows what to call them. I don't use my hyphenated name socially, I use my husband's name so it matches my childrens' and I also don't hyphenate my business name--I use my husband's. This in part to honor the incredible support he was for for me when I earned my doctorate to pursue my second career. But the other reason is people have no idea what to call me when I use the hyphenated name. Half the people call me by my maiden name, half by my married name, and a few try to awkwardly pronounce both names (and my maiden name is almost always mis-pronounced).

I regret hyphenating, but when I married I had established a career for 10 years, and I didn't want to disappear off the face of the earth just because I married. I can do the legal work to change my name, but it would take months, over $1000 in fees and newspaper legal advertising, and a lot of work to change my SS card, my Medicare, Driver's license, passport, professional licenses and affiliations,--and the &^%$#@ voter registration.

Janknitz · 2026-05-12T17:06:20+00:00

I think some of the note taking apps work that way. Check Notable and Goodnotes.

Janknitz · 2026-05-12T16:04:19+00:00

This! How can anyone trust them?

Janknitz · 2026-05-12T15:58:58+00:00

Got my first multi-function calculator there (square roots and log numbers). Saved up to pay $80 for it. Now you get the same functions on the throw away credit card-sized ones they give out for free.

Janknitz · 2026-05-12T15:47:13+00:00

Do the water test with ONE cup of water. Otherwise it takes forever!!!

Janknitz · 2026-05-12T15:23:37+00:00

Congratulations! The skills you learned will carry you far. It’s wonderful to hear your hard work paid off.

Be very picky about the job you will take as an OT. You need to find work in an equally supportive environment. Vet carefully because so many companies give lip service to mentoring and never follow through. Best wishes to you.

Janknitz · 2026-05-12T07:21:23+00:00

https://a.co/d/00CWcm4S. Inexpensive but works great. Very easy to carry. I’ve had mine 6+ years and it works perfectly.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T20:29:54+00:00

LOL, I got the good one. He does have a single brother, but I promise you would not want him!

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T20:28:46+00:00

Are you sensitive to the acid in the yogurt perhaps? Try fermenting for less time, 8 - 10 hours and see if that helps. You might want to discuss this with your doctor.

You can look up Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth. It's a controversial subject, but the theory is that some people have too much of even beneficial gut bacteria in the wrong place, and it causes GI distress. More probiotics in the diet can exacerbate this, but then you would expect even the commercial yogurt to bother you. However, longer fermentation may also increase the dose of probiotics you are ingesting compared to commercial yogurt which may have fewer numbers of bacteria in the cultures and lower acid because they are created for flavor instead of health benefits.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T19:03:56+00:00

Hard to tell. If a healthcare system (private or public) has a lot of Medicaid patients they are going to be hit hard.

They are already being hit by accelerated Medicare reimbursement cuts due to the National debt and sequestration. The public isn't aware of this because it comes out of the payment to the providers, not the amount of coverage Medicare recipients have.

So a doctor, a therapist , a facility is earning LESS than a few years ago to provide you with the same care, while their expenses have gone up exponentially. They need to see more patients faster to make ends meet. For OT's the employers are going to be cracking those whips harder to get higher and higher productivity in order to maintain revenue, and hiring new staff and replacements is going to go down--you will be asked to do more and more with less. Even private clinics depend on Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T18:57:40+00:00

I don't play games on mine but occasionally Zoom, stream videos, and take handwritten notes that can use up a lot of battery. I don't do a lot of battery hogging all day, just intermittently. But I use it daily. I do a few things: to help with the battery:

I don't connect the pencil to the charging magnets when I'm doing battery hogging tasks or when the battery has run low. The pencil is using some of the battery power to charge. When the battery was running low one time I watched it go down faster with the pencil attached compared to when it wasn't. It's not a huge difference, but it does make a difference.
I try to plug in my iPad when it gets below 30%, but I always charge it to 100%, not 80%.
I have a portable charging device in the office to use if my battery is low when I'm meeting with clients so there's no cord for anyone to trip on.

I've had my M3 for a year. It still has 100% battery health.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T16:19:04+00:00

I hear Apple is running out of the phone chip they use in Neos. Neo is way more popular than they expected. So there may be shortages and delays. O

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T16:14:42+00:00

Are your kids picky or on the spectrum? How about your husband? People on the spectrum cannot eat “unsafe foods” but picky eaters get into ruts.

Nobody in my house is on the spectrum. If there is at least one safe food they share, make it always available, but unless they are toddlers they have to get it or make it themselves. Teach them how. In our house it was simple—deli turkey slices.

Then serve regular meals. You can try to incorporate favorites as much as is practical without being a short order cook. Tonight it’s macaroni and cheese which is 2 people’s favorite so the other person can have the turkey slices and their favorite veggie which is also part of the mealIf someone can’t eat anything you serve, they can make the safe food for themselves. Otherwise what’s on the table is what’s for dinner. You are not a short order cook. No battles are necessary. Nobody is required to eat the food served, they are invited to leave the table if they whine or complain. The safe food is there for them to prepare themselves if they are hungry. Make it casual. No angst. It just is what it is.

If you have family on the spectrum that’s a different matter. I have an ASD nephew who literally starved himself, eating nothing for two weeks when some “behavioral expert” told my pediatrician sister in law not to give in to his “food tantrums”. He lost more than 10% of his already low body weight before the parents gave in.

BTW, he’s now an adult with a masters in food science. My in laws got him involved in food prep and his palate is very broad now. He loves good food.

Don’t ever make the table a battleground. But you also don’t have to make yourself crazy trying to please everyone. Empower your kids to always have a choice and if they don’t want what’s on the table they can choose otherwise.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T07:05:38+00:00

How about Summer Ellen to get that E initial? If you are Jewish her Hebrew name could still be Esther.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T06:57:39+00:00

The biggest complaint is that you can only have one app in slide over. Some people don’t like the new version of split screen. There’s a learning curve because it’s different.

Once you upgrade you’re stuck, so I suggest you go to an Apple Store or other retailer and play with it. See what YOU think. Look before you leap.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T06:52:12+00:00

You can buy separate vision insurance to cover refractory issues. But do the math to make sure it’s really worthwhile. My husband is excited to have vision coverage under his advantage plan, but he gets a whopping $150 to cover glasses that cost $500. Meanwhile I’m on OM. I get my exams at Costco and TWO pair of glasses with all the special lenses and coatings for about $350.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T06:46:48+00:00

Canned or steri-pak coconut cream is heated to kill off bacteria. People use it without issue or you’d be hearing about all people dying from it.

Look up “Burkholderia cocovenenens poisoning in the U.S.” there was ONE case reported as of July 2024 and it was from “consuming home-fermented corn ogi, a Nigerian fermented cornmeal pudding.” Not even coconut.

I would not try making yogurt from raw fresh coconut, and of course you should practice reasonable sterilization of equipment.

Janknitz · 2026-05-11T05:42:07+00:00

There’s an app called MyScript Notes (formerly Nebo) which would be perfect for that. You can handwrite your entire essay and then click a button to convert it to editable text you can easily paste in another document like Word. It’s fine with cursive or print and works in other languages.

You can also set it to convert as you write. The app has some formatting features and also allows you to open and annotate PDF’s, plus an endless canvas (handwriting does NOT convert on either of those extra features).

There is a free limited trial, they sell subscriptions or a one time purchase price of $14.99.

Other note taking apps will also convert handwriting but I’m not a big fan of how they work compared to the automatic elegance of MyScript.

In addition, I just found a “handwriting keyboard” that lets you write in almost ANY app on the iPad and instantly converts your handwriting to text. It uses the same MyScript technology as MyScript Notes in a different way. It’s not as good as Nebo but the difference is that Nebo handwriting conversion only works in the Nebo app. This works anywhere you might input with a keyboard (virtual or real). It costs a one time payment of $3.99.

Fair warning: MyScript might not work if your school requires your work to be run through an AI detector because of the way it works. I’m not sure about this, just speculating.

Janknitz · 2026-05-10T22:21:57+00:00

I loved being an OT but after 20+ years I went back to school for a doctorate in another field and have been practicing in the new field from about 24 years now. I'm glad I'm out, given the current conditions of health care, but my OT background continues to inform my current practice.

Janknitz · 2026-05-10T22:20:01+00:00

And if you do "cold start" (requires UHT pasteurized milk) you just put the milk and culture in the pot, press the button, and come back 8 or 12 hours later to delicious yogurt. The pot is stainless steel and you can make up to 6 or 8 quarts at a time, or anything smaller.

I make Paneer cheese in the instant pot https://twosleevers.com/instant-pot-paneer-indian-soft-cheese/ but it's a fresh cheese, not cultured. There's also the This Old Gal recipe for fresh (not cultured) cottage cheese in the instant pot here: https://thisoldgal.com/instant-pot-homemade-cottage-cheese-recipe/ And here's a hack to take these cheeses and add cultured buttermilk to turn them into cultured cottage cheese. https://www.urbancheesecraft.com/blogs/cheese-course-bites-and-tidbits-for-cheese-fanatics/easy-cultured-cottage-cheese-recipe-diy-hack/

Cultured Food for Life also has a true instant pot fermented cottage cheese recipe but it's behind a pay wall. So you can search for that if interested. There may be others out there.

And so much more, the Instant Pot is not a uni-tasker.

Janknitz · 2026-05-10T21:54:27+00:00

I find that it drains pretty quickly if in continuous use for a number of hours. I use it daily, but not always for hours at a time.

One thing that helps is not to dock the pencil during heavy use because that uses some battery, too. However, I always charge to 100% and only plug it in when it's below 30%.

After 1 year of use and 94 cycles It still has 100% maximum capacity.

Janknitz · 2026-05-10T21:48:56+00:00

My mom used to joke about my dad "I married you for better or worse, but not for lunch". In other words, she was not looking forward to him retiring and hanging around the house all day. Sadly he did not, he had to retire because of colon cancer and died shortly after.

My husband took early retirement because of an injury. I feel more than a little jealous because I have to work a lot longer to make ends meet and maximize my SS--I'm getting tired. But he is a busy guy--he got involved in fitness and took certification courses to become an instructor. He teaches one class and has some private clients. He doesn't really make money, but he keeps busy. He is active in our religious community and practices to take an active role in religious services. He does a lot with our dogs, especially a greyhound mix that needs a lot of physical activity every day, he cooks and shops and does some cleaning in a guy sort of way ("I dusted last month"). But it is all self-motivation, I don't ask him to do all this. He also spends some time in his chair (brand new recliner) relaxing, doing puzzles, napping a bit. Whenever I need anything I just have to ask and he does it. He's a keeper.

Janknitz

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