A laptop is the brain behind your nursing career. If it is said, then it would not be a miscalculation. Having the right laptop means that you have got all the power to boost up your nursing work, and therefore, you need the best laptop while you’re getting things done.
Unfortunately, if you pick the wrong one, then you are in trouble. After proper research and carefully picked laptops, we have tried to solve your laptop problems, and that fits in the tag of “the best laptop for nursing students”.
You’ve never had such a detailed list of options for the best and most suitable laptops according to your needs.
| Image | Laptop Name | Features | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop | Display: 15.6" RAM: 8 GB Storage: 512 GB SSD Battery: Up to 5 hours | |
 | Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 | Display: 13.3" RAM: 4GB Storage: 64GB SSD Battery: Up to 10 hours | |
 | 2020 Apple MacBook Air | Display: 13" RAM: 8GB Storage: 256GB SSD Battery: Up to 18 hours | |
 | ASUS Chromebook Flip C434 2-In-1 Laptop | Display: 14" RAM: 4GB Storage: 64GB SSD Battery: Up to 10 hours | |
 | Dell XPS 13 | Display: 13.3" RAM: 8GB Storage: 512GB SSD | |
 | Acer Swift 3 Thin & Light Laptop | Display: 14" RAM: 8GB Storage: 512GB SSD Battery: Up to 5 hours | |
 | HP Pavilion 15.6" | Display: 15.6" RAM: 8 GB Storage: 512 GB SSD | |
 | MSI Modern 14" Ultra Thin and Light | Display: 14" RAM: 8 GB Storage: 512GB SSD Battery: Up to 10 hours |
Why do Nursing Students need a laptop?
A question that is often asked by many nursing students is, “Do nursing students really need a laptop in their school or college?”
After examining many nursing schools and colleges, we have concluded that It depends on your school or college and program you are in. If they have included a laptop as a requirement in nursing program, then you have to buy it.
In many cases, nursing schools have computers in libraries or in labs for students. It could save your money, but may not save your time.
When you need it, the computer may be occupied or in peak hours, you may never have the chance to use it. It is usually need of the hour in peak hours, isn’t it?
6 Good Reasons to Buy a Nursing Laptop
Many nursing institutions( College, Universities or school) of the United States encourage their students to buy a laptop when taking admission. So the other countries do have their preferences.
As a nursing student you should buy a laptop for
- Reading Ebooks, research papers, or completing online assignments
- Collaborate on group projects or to write research papers
- Writing lots of papers and downloading hundreds of articles from your school’s online library.
- Watching informational videos, animations of human body organs, etc.
- Create presentations, posters, or Infographics, etc.
- Back up all your data to cloud storage and/or a flash drive
What are system requirements for a Nursing Student?
There are a lot of nursing schools/universities in the US and they have recommended almost similar laptop specifications for their students.
For reference, here are laptop spec recommendations by Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.
| Windows Laptop | MacBook Lapotp (Pro or Air) |
| – Windows 10 Pro or Latest OS – Intel Core i5 processor or higher – 14” HD display or larger – Integrated webcam – 8 GB RAM/memory or higher – 250 GB hard drive or larger SSD (solid state drive recommended) – 3 year Warranty with accidental damage coverage recommended | – MacOS Big Sur or higher – Apple M1 chip or latest – 13” display or larger – 8 GB RAM/memory or higher – 250 GB hard drive or larger SSD(Solid State Drive recommended) – 3 year AppleCare+ warranty recommended |
You can view some other top universities’ laptop requirements here.
Most of the nursing schools offering (BSN, MSN in Nursing Education, Forensic Nursing/ Family Nurse Practitioner, and Graduate Certificate in Forensic Health Care)
- Texas A&M University, School of Nursing
- Rutgers School of Nursing
- NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Nursing Education and Information Technology
1– According to a study on this topic by National Library of Medicine of United States
By using simulation software and repeating simulations until learning is achieved, patient safety can be ensured.
Several of the principal benefits of DET (Digital Education Technologies) are its integration of multiple learning tools, its low cost, and its availability without any time or space restrictions.
The primary hurdles can be overcome through proper training.
2- While a CIN Journal states in its study that
Nursing students need to learn about technology as part of their curriculum.
3- While the American Nurse Journal proposes that
It is possible for instructors to create learning environments that hold students’ attention and promote engagement by providing different activities.
Using online tools, students can be engaged in group activities, problem-solving, simulations, concept mapping, and other student-centered activities.
These activities involve creative animations, problem solving videos or cartoons, creative nursing posters to share information like stories.
Top 10 laptops for Nursing Students
The following are some of the best laptops, which easily meet the nursing school laptop requirements.
There are affordable laptops for a wide range of functions in nursing, including web surfing, practice, education using professional medical software (to get laboratory tests, X-ray reports, health reports from the central record, etc), and for nursing administration as well.
1. Acer Swift 3 – Best Affordable Laptop For Nursing Students
The Acer swift contains an 8th Gen Intel Core i3 processor for accelerated performance, IPS display for exceptional clarity, and 0.63 inches slim aluminum body. The Swift 3 meets the demands of 21st-century on-the-go lifestyles for nurses working anywhere.
Thanks to its long-lasting battery life & enhanced portability, Acer Swift 3 is an “Ultrabook” category laptop that, in my opinion, is the best affordable laptop for nursing students.
A nursing student prefers two features in a laptop, portability and Long-lasting battery life, and Acer Swift 3 has it all.
With a working life of up to 13 hours, Acer Swift 3 keeps you driven to perform all your everyday activities, from morning to night. This amazing device is designed to stay at your side for the entirety of the day.
Acer Swift 3 has the newest Wi-Fi 802.11ac that offers a significantly smoother internet experience at link speeds up to three times faster than in previous generations.
Whether you are having a conference call or a personal chat, Acer Purified-Voice helps to deliver you clarity and accuracy. The HD camera with Super HDR technology ensures that video calls are clear with sharper details in both bright and dark areas.
The Swift 3’s robust construction, good battery life, and lightweight shape make it a solid option for its target audiences like nursing students and everyone else searching for a versatile computer that won’t cost the earth.
All of these amazing features of Acer Swift 3 makes it the best laptop for home health nurse.
2. HP Pavilion x360 – Best 2 In 1 Laptop For Nursing Students
Hp Pavilion x360 is the best 2 in 1 laptop for nursing students. It easily can switch between laptop and tablet modes and provides a very comfortable and user-friendly working. On the other side, you can take notes, draw on screen and other everyday events with a stand or tent mode that feels as natural as writing on paper.
When It comes to performance, Pavilion x360 is equipped with a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor that offers super performance students of nursing. Hp Pavilion x360 has a battery life that lasts up to 9 hours and 15 minutes. It also offers fast charging that goes 0 to 50 percent charge in 45 minutes, with HP fast charge.
While display quality, 14-inch Full HD, IPS, with WLED-backlit and multitouch support, touch screen display with an 80% screen-to-body ratio.
Pavilion x360 offers quick bootup with a solid-state drive, also higher bandwidth memory. It boots up in seconds and transfers files very swiftly that you don’t have to wait long for minutes.
You can enjoy a speedier experience with speed and reliability with 8 GB RAM. These prominent features of the Pavilion x360 have therefore proved to be the best laptop for nursing students.
3. ASUS ZenBook 15 – Best Laptops For College Nursing Students
The elegant wide-view 4K UHD screen, interactive touchscreen trackpad, 10th generation Core i7 with 8M cache makes ASUS ZenBook 15 the best laptops for college nursing students.
It is equipped with energy-efficient and fastest and the latest 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce 1650 Max-Q graphics card that offer exceptional performance and graphics during high-end usage.
ZenBook 15 has a long-lasting battery life of 5+ hours and it provides fast charging with HP fast charge that goes 0 to 50% charge in 45 minutes.
When it comes to display screen quality, ZenBook 15 provides an exceptional 15.6-inch 4K UHD Nano-Edge bezel display with a 92% screen to body ratio. Such a high-end display at such a low price is the main reason why people love getting this highly affordable laptop.
ZenBook also provides an Amazon Alexa voice assistant service that enables you to listen to music, the latest news, manage smart home devices all this with your own voice.
One of the most important features is a Military Grade Laptop that has passed many performance tests like Drop Test, Low-Temperature test, and high altitude tests. So, it is one of the most durable, comfortable, and best laptop for nursing students.
4 Apple MacBook Pro – Meets All Nursing School Laptop Requirements
MacBook Pro is the most exciting laptop ever released by Apple. It offers exceptional battery life and a brilliant Retina display with True-Tone technology. The most prominent feature is the sleek and lightweight design that makes it highly portable and convenient for college students of nursing to carry from home to college and vice versa.
MacBook Pro consists of a Backlit Magic keyboard that is designed to be extremely comfortable and efficient during both light and dark. MacBook Pro also supports Touch-ID and Touch bar unlocks for easy and secure use.
The Apple MacBook Pro’s battery life is up to 11 hours and offers a smooth and powerful charge with a 61W C power adapter. MacBook Pro contains Intel Iris Plus Graphics for light gaming. And when it comes to storage, MacBook Pro provides an Ultrafast SSD for fast performance.
The MacBook Pro has great loudspeakers that provide brilliant-quality audio streaming. It fulfills all the requirements of being the best laptop for nursing students.
LG Gram is the most compelling combination of large screen size and lightweight that we’ve witnessed from any laptop as the LG Gram laptop is astonishingly light and convenient. Simply it’s the best laptop to buy for nursing students working as home-nurse or college.
When it comes to storage, LG Gram has a spacious storage space of 1TB. LG has chosen SSD for the storage as it is much faster than the HDD.
LG partnered with Intel to integrate a fast processor that improves performance and power efficiency. This enhanced performance lets the lightweight LG Gram do more than ever before.
LG Gram safeguards your details with a fingerprint reader that further helps you to boot up and log in quickly. To access or re-awaken your laptop during sleep mode, simply push the power button.
Whether it’s a late-night work session, night-time flight, or bedtime emails, LG Gram helps you with its backlit keyboard.
The battery life of LG Gram is the main reason why people love getting this laptop. It has a battery timing of whopping 21 hours that helps you do several long working sessions without even having to charge this laptop.
LG has a strong potential for excellent displays around the world, and the Gram 17 is no exception, featuring a high-resolution WQXA display that falls somewhere between Full-HD and 4K.
The colors are vibrant, the text looks razor-sharp, and the image quality stays consistent even when watching it from a wide viewing angle.
6. HP 15 – Touchscreen – Best HP Laptop For Nursing Students
A fast 10th Generation Intel Core i5 processor with Intel’s Turbo Boost Technology is included in the HP 15.6 Laptop. The 15.6-inch diagonal HD SVA genius touchscreen monitor on the HP 15.6 Laptop is one of the leaders in the market.
HP 15.6 Touchscreen Laptop features a fast boot-up with SSD. It also can transfers files in seconds without waiting hours and lets you enjoy a snappier experience with the internal 256-512 GB SSD.
When it comes to performance, the 2020 HP 15.6 laptop provides 16GB RAM, and this is one of the reasons why people love buying this machine. It’s exceptionally fast!
This laptop has a 15.6-inch WLED HD touchscreen that has a 10-finger multi-touch support Display. The touchscreen makes it a more comfortable and usable machine.
The battery life of 2020 HP 15.6 is moderate with a battery timing of 9 hours and 30 minutes. The audio quality of the system is moderate and works okay for all kinds of functionalities.
All these features make this laptop an excellent choice for nursing students. In fact, it is recommended as the best hp laptop for nursing students.
7. ASUS ZenBook 13 Ultra-slim – Budget Laptop For Students of Nursing
ASUS ZenBook 13 Laptop comes with a fast 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor that has a 6 MB cache that contains Intel’s Turbo Boost Technology it goes up to 3.6 GHz.
The ZenBook comes with a 13.3-inch wide-view Full HD 4-way Nano-Edge bezel monitor with excellent viewing angles. The compact, lightweight body is attractive and practical for daily use, as is its battery life.
Apart from good looks, the 13.3-inch small notebook of ZenBook 13 also has a number of additional features that make it more unique than the average ultra-portable laptops. Instead of the typical standard webcam, Asus provided an IR camera along with its webcam into the thin bezel above the display that enables you to log in using facial recognition.
Asus has also included its Number-Pad 2.0 in the touchpad which allows you to click an icon in the top right corner of the pad and switches on a full pad. The software is made to be smart enough that it knows the difference between using it as a number pad or touchpad, so you don’t have to constantly turn it on and off.
When it comes to performance, the ZenBook 13 provides a standard 8GB RAM, but the processor Core i5 10th Gen is fast and boosts up the performance to an above-average category.
The battery life of ZenBook is what makes it a favorite among nursing students and professionals. It has a battery timing of around 22 hours and also supports fast charging that goes from 0 to 60% in less than 40 minutes.
All these amazing features of ZenBook make it among the best laptop for nursing students.
8. Google Pixel Go Chromebook – Best Laptop For Nurse Practitioner Students
Google Pixel Go is the Chromebook laptop designed for life on the go. It’s extremely lightweight and thin, having 2 pounds weight and 13 mm thin.
Further equipped with a battery having up to 12 hours of battery life, Google Pixel Go is an exceptional choice for professionals working all around the world. That’s why it can be considered the best laptop for nurse practitioner students.
Google Pixel Go is equipped with the Titan C security chip that protects your data, passwords, and information. Also, it has built-in antivirus software and automatic Chrome OS update system to give you the latest features and security.
With its magnificent HD touchscreen and dual acoustic speakers, the Google Pixel Go provides excellent video and sound quality for watching movies, editing photos, and video calling with a vibrant 1080p HD webcam.
With this laptop, you can stay unplugged for up to 12 hours, so you don’t need to carry a charger with you everywhere. And even if you do need to charge, you can get up to 2 hours of battery in just 20 minutes of charging.
With all those above-mentioned features within this price range, it is one of the best budget laptops for nursing practitioners or students.
The Acer Aspire 5 is a medium-range laptop with a variety of features that you’d expect in a laptop for the everyday use of nursing students. It does a decent job of most things, plays media well, and has a long battery life, all for a really low price.
When it comes to performance, the Aspire 5 is a workhorse, capable of easily handling all the basic tasks. Due to the price tag and wide range of operations, this laptop is best for nurse practitioners as well.
The Aspire 5 features a 15.6-inch Full-HD widescreen LED-backlit IPS screen and AMD Radeon Vega 3 Phone Graphics, which work together to provide excellent screen efficiency.
Aspire 5 has a Backlit keyboard, which comes in handy for late-night work sessions, night-time flights, and bedtime texts.
The Acer Aspire provides good quality speakers and Amazon Alexa voice service that enables you to listen to music, news, manage smart home appliances with just your voice.
Aspire 5 is also equipped with a fingerprint scanner that allows you to lock and unlock the laptop with your fingertip. With this laptop, you can stay unplugged for up to 6 hours and 30 minutes; this battery timing is below average and the reason why some people don’t buy this laptop.
Surface Pro 7 is a well-made laptop with sharp-looking lines, a gently finished magnesium body with adjusted corners, and the company’s unrivaled kickstand on the back.
Having a price tag of around 770$, the battery life of this laptop is great, with the Core i5 version battery lasts around 10.5 hours.
The Surface Pro 7 is a finest convertible laptop with the flexibility of a workspace and tablet, allowing you to type, touch, sketch, compose, perform, and play as easily as though you were using paper and pen.
But if you’re buying this, you must invest in their keyboard cover. It’s disheartening that you need to explicitly buy its keyboard and pen. Without having a keyboard, you’re very limited to do anything.
When it comes to performance, it has the best 10th Gen Core i7 processor and 8GB of RAM combine to boost the system performance.
Surface Pro 7 also provides great audio and Cortana voice service that enables you to listen to music, get news, manage smart home devices all this with just your voice.
Surface Pro 7 is equipped with a 12.3-inch display having 2736 x 1824 resolution, and together with Intel iris plus graphics, it provides great screen quality.
With this laptop, you can stay unplugged for up to 10 hours and 30 minutes, the battery timing is great, and it also supports fast charging from 0-80% within an hour. All these features make it one of the best choices for nurse practitioner students Or home health nurses.
What to Look for in the Best Nursing Laptop for Students?
To find the best laptop for nursing students, you should look for the following factor:
Better Screen Resolution
Before getting a laptop, always consider the one having the better screen resolution at a particular price point. A better screen mostly has a better resolution, panel type, and size. You should look for an IPS display if you are spending more than 550$ on the laptop.
However, you can always make an exception if the laptop is better in other aspects. Next, you should look for a screen having a better resolution than its competitors. Look for a laptop with a Full-HD screen if you’re spending around 600$.
At last, it comes to the size. If you want a more portable device, go for a laptop with a smaller screen. And if your job means seeing the computer a lot, go with a larger screen laptop.
Weight Matters
If you’re searching for a laptop that can mainly be used at home, the weight will not matter that much. But if you want the machine to be portable and easy to carry, then go for something that is lighter. Generally, a laptop having 3-4 pounds or less weight is considered good.
The more RAM, the better
RAM affects the performance of a computer directly. Generally, laptops have 4GB to 8GB RAM. However, 6GB-8GB laptops are mostly considered work laptops.
But you can like using a laptop with 16GB RAM if your job includes using video/photo editors or some other technical applications which may demand high efficiency.
If you are hunting for a more affordable laptop, remember that you still have more RAM than most.
Prefer SSDs over HDDs
Laptops with an SSD or SSD cache are faster and much more responsive. SSDs are much faster and more power-efficient than HDDs.
If your budget permits, you can still prioritize SSD notebooks, even if you have a smaller hard drive, e.g., 500 GB rather than 750 GB.
In order to guide the college and Nursing schools to get value for money or best laptop within reasonable funds or how to get maximum out of your money here are
Few More Tips:
- The bigger trackpad and the smoother trackpad are way more convenient.
- Always look for a keyboard with backlights; they are worth even paying some extra.
- Unless you need it, a laptop without a DVD drive is better. The DVD drive technology is dying.
- Consider a laptop having better battery life, although the battery life depends on a lot of other components in a laptop. Still, a laptop that charges quickly and drains out slow is considered good.
- Ideally, go for a laptop that feels durable in the hands and is made of better material.
Conclusion
If you are a nursing student, then finding the best laptop specifically designed for nursing either college or school can be quite tough. Therefore, we have listed some of the best laptops to buy.
Before considering buying the most suitable laptop for yourself, you should keep in mind the above-mentioned guidelines such as display screen, weight, portability, and storage type.
Overall, the Asus ZenBook 15 and Apple MacBook Pro are the winners. For budget-conscious students, Acer Aspire 5 is the best choice laptop.
If you still have any questions relating to the best laptops for nursing students, then feel free to reach out any time.