Top 6 Food Apps for Busy Nurses

It’s the end of a long shift – 8, 12, maybe even 16 hours. Your back aches, your feet hurt and you’re exhausted. But before the Sandman sprinkles pixie dust in your dreams, you need one thing: Food.

After the shift you pulled, it’s likely you’re not in the mood to go home and whip up a gourmet dinner after work. Maybe something simple seems too complicated after some shifts. Don’t worry – as you likely know by now, your smart phone or tablet is capable of lending a hand.

Here are six food apps for busy nurses – four for the times when you have to eat out or get take-out, and two to help in the kitchen.

Eat24

The “Hunger App” makes ordering food for take-out or delivery a breeze. Just enter your address, choose the restaurant of your choice and instantly see what’s on the menu.

The app tells you the minimum order for delivery, and if a delivery fee is charged. You can pay by credit card or Paypal, and then just wait for your food to come to you. And if it doesn’t get there fast enough? You can even check your order status through the app.

App price: Free

KidsEatFor

Dining out with children is one way for them to learn table manners and appropriate behavior in public. What can make the experience even better? Dining where kids eat free!

This app compiles all the places in your surrounding area where kids can eat for free or with a discount. It gives you the details, too, such as “kids eat free all day” or “for kids 12 years and younger.”

App price: $2.99

VegOut

Finding meat-free dining choices can be frustrating and time consuming, especially if you’re in a hurry. This app takes the guesswork out of restaurant-hunting if you’re a vegan or vegetarian.

For added convenience, results can be viewed on a map – so you know exactly where to head after work.

App price: $2.99

LocalEats

This app seems as if it was designed to make a travel nurse’s life easier. No time to research dining options in a new city? This app lets you search by food category, location, or award-winning status. You can even check out the restaurant choices by neighborhood or landmark.

As the name suggests, you won’t see a chain restaurant listed in the results. Menus and reviews are also available, so you can be sure the restaurant is a good choice.

App price: $0.99

DinnerSpinner

This app from Allrecipes.com is perfect for nights when you want to cook, have a few ingredients on hand, but don’t have a recipe.

Simply choose the type of dish you want to cook, pick the ingredients you have, and, most importantly, how long you want the meal to take. Recipe timing ranges from “20 minutes or less” to “slow cooker.”

App price: Free or $2.99 for the pro version

BigOven

This app makes home-cooked meals a little easier by helping with cooking and shopping. The app has pre-loaded recipes – and allows you to add your own to make a shopping list and plan out the week’s menu.

Another handy feature: want to make a recipe for two people but the ingredients in the recipe are for six? There’s a feature that allows you to scale down the ingredient amounts to fit parties of any size.

App price: Free

Author bio:

Elizabeth Ross is an Inbound Marketing Specialist at Rasmussen College. She enjoys writing about a variety of subjects with a focus on nursing and health sciences subjects. Connect with Elizabeth on Twitter or Google+.

 

1 Comment

  1. elizabeth scala on February 18, 2013 at 9:17 am

    Hmmm interesting post! I thank you for sharing something that is new to me. These apps do look like they help the busy nurse save time and stress. One conventional and “non-app” suggestion I’d like to add is planning ahead via meal prep. I find that when I take a block of time- say a Sunday afternoon- to shop, create, and make my meals for the week… then I have things I can just grab and go with when the work week gets busy! Thanks for sharing these ideas as I know it is hard for the nurse who gets off the long shift to find something healthy and nutritious to eat! Have a healthy day!!



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