The nursing community is embracing mobile health devices and social media tools at a high level, according to a new survey.

The survey was conducted by Springer Publishing Company, which polled more than 1,000 nurses – the majority of which were nurse educators holding advanced nursing degrees – on their ownership and usage of mobile devices, their preferences for nursing and medical apps, and their social media use.

Key findings of the survey include:

• 74.6 percent of respondents said they owned a smartphone or tablet computer
• 43.7 percent owned an Apple iPhone/iPod Touch, 29.8 percent an Android, 22 percent an iPad and 19 percent a Blackberry/RIM
• 53.6 percent of those owning smartphones have downloaded or installed nursing or medical applications.
• 41.5 percent, own an eBook reader, with the Amazon Kindle easily out-pacing the Barnes & Noble Nook with a 61.4 percent adoption rate versus 16.8 percent, respectively.
• 31.4 percent of those owning an eBook reader had purchased medical eBooks.
• 68.4 percent of responders use Facebook (the leading platform), with 37.3 percent on LinkedIn and only 10.7 percent on Twitter; 12.2 percent used professional sites like Allnurses.com and 14.4 percent used nurse.com

“These findings indicate the rapid growth of mobile technology use among those in the healthcare industry, as well as the growing demand for eBooks and mobile applications that serve the professional development and reference needs of nurses,” commented Pascal Schwarzer, the vice president of Digital Business Development at Springer Publishing Company.

 “This trend presents a wealth of new opportunities for industries serving the healthcare professions,” added Schwarzer.

To view the full survey and its findings, click here.