Comparison

Nursing Central vs APRN and PA’s Complete Guide

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Nursing Central

This comprehensive nursing app integrates multiple best-selling resources to provide quick access to vital clinical information. It offers detailed data on diseases, drugs, tests, and procedures, along with a medical dictionary and access to the PubMed database. Features include study tools, custom notes, and multimedia content to enhance learning and efficiency for healthcare professionals and students.

Highlights
  • Drug information with updates
  • Medical dictionary with 75,000+ entries
  • Laboratory and diagnostic test details
  • Disease and disorder information
  • PubMed database access
  • Exclusive study system (Grasp™)
  • Custom notes and highlights
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Five best-selling nursing apps combine to form the premier, integrated clinical nursing solution. Use valuable tools to find and apply the information you need. Purchase includes iOS app, macOS app, and web access. PLEASE NOTE: Current customers and institutional subscribers can use this app to download content to their iOS devices. ABOUT NURSING CENTRAL Nursing Central helps nurses and students be more efficient by providing detailed information on diseases, tests, drugs, and procedures where and when it is needed. The moment a question arises you can consult the updating database of 5,000 drugs, find a definition in the dictionary with 75,000+ entries, interpret hundreds of laboratory and diagnostic tests, and consult the latest disease information. You can also search the entire PubMed database or study unfamiliar topics using the exclusive study system - Grasp™, all from your mobile device Five best-selling nursing applications combine to form Nursing Central. DAVIS’S DRUG GUIDE FOR NURSES Refer to regularly updated information on dosing, contraindications, drug interactions, and patient education for more than 5,000 medications. TABER’S MEDICAL DICTIONARY Define over 75,000 medical terms and enhance learning with images, videos, and audio pronunciations. DAVIS’S LABORATORY AND DIAGNOSTIC TESTS Access rationale and results for tests as well as pretest requirements, intratest procedures, and post-test patient care. DISEASES AND DISORDERS Review complete coverage of more than 250 medical conditions. Prime PubMed Connect to the full PubMed journal citations and abstracts database on your mobile device. Stay up to date with your favorite nursing and medical journals with Prime Journals, perform powerful searches, receive suggestions on relevant articles with Prime ForYou, link directly to the publisher’s full text, and share articles via email or social media. Visually explore the literature using Grapherence®, a unique way to find related and relevant articles. FEATURES • Receive 1-year of drug updates • Create custom notes and highlights within entries • Consult trusted disease and test information • Jump quickly between resources using Cross Links • View thousands of colorful images, figures, and videos • Learn on the go with our exclusive study system - Grasp™ • Access the full PubMed database • Use the Full Text Search to help find topics across all resources • Bookmark important entries with “Favorites” • Get access to Nursing Central website for one year • Personalize your app by re-ordering resources to match your unique needs and preferences. DRUG AND CONTENT UPDATE RENEWAL • After initial Nursing Central purchase you will receive updates for one year • After one year, you can purchase updates for an additional year, at the discounted rate of $99.99. If you do not choose to purchase, you can continue to use the product but will not receive updates. • If you purchase updates, they will automatically renew annually at the renewal rate ($99.99) and charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase, unless auto-renew is turned off 24 hours prior to the conclusion of the one-year subscription period. • Account will be charged ($99.99) for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the yearly subscription term. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Unbound Privacy Policy: www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement

About

APRN and PA’s Complete Guide

This prescribing reference offers guidance on drug therapy for advanced healthcare providers and students. It includes over 600 diagnoses with detailed pharmacotherapy regimens, lab monitoring, and patient teaching points. Content is updated digitally and accessible offline.

Highlights
  • Over 600 diagnoses with pharmacotherapy regimens
  • Detailed drug information including dosing and FDA pregnancy category
  • Lab values to monitor and patient teaching points
  • Alphabetical diagnosis and drug cross-reference
  • Digital updates and offline access
  • SmartSearch technology for quick information retrieval
Features
Read full description

"Try before you buy" - Download the FREE App, which includes sample content. An in-App purchase is required to unlock all content. Updated to deliver the most current standards, this is a unique prescribing reference for APRN students and advanced health care providers in all practice settings who need guidance on prescribing drugs for patients with acute, episodic, and chronic health problems Includes more than 30 new diagnoses with digital updates as needed! Concise, easy to read, and updated throughout, the APRN and PA’s Complete Guide to Prescribing Drug Therapy 2020 delivers pharmacotherapy regimens for more than 600 diagnoses—including over 30 that are new. Listed alphabetically by diagnosis, pharmacotherapy regimens include, for each diagnosis, drug choices listed by generic name, FDA pregnancy category, generic/over-the-counter availability, adult/pediatric dosing regimens, brand names, forms of dosage, and additives. Clinically useful information such as laboratory values to be monitored, patient teaching points, and safety information is interspersed throughout each diagnosis. Additional quick-access features include information presented in convenient table format and an alphabetical cross-reference index of drugs by generic and brand name, with FDA pregnancy category and controlled drug schedule (I, II, III, IV, V). Key Features: * Includes 31 new diagnoses totaling over 600 organized alphabetically * Serves as a quick-access prescribing reference for APRN and PA students and health care providers in all primary care settings * Presents drug information in condensed and summary form for ease of use * Within each diagnosis, drug choices are listed alphabetically by generic /trade name, FDA pregnancy category, adult/pediatric dosing, dose forms, and additives * Delivers guidance on lab values to be monitored, patient education points, and safety information * Includes 30 Appendices with ready access to key drug classifications, FDA Pregnancy Categories, US Schedule of Controlled Substances, Immunization Schedules, Contraceptive Guidance, categories Anti-Infectives, and more! * Offers brand/generic cross-reference No internet connection is required to access the content after the initial download. Find information quickly using powerful SmartSearch technology. Search part of term for those hard to spell medical terms. Content licensed from printed ISBN 13: 9780826179333 SUBSCRIPTION : Please choose an auto renewable subscription plan to receive content access & continuous updates. Your subscription automatically renews as per your plan, so you always have the latest content. Yearly auto-renewing payments-$39.99 Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Subscription may be managed by the user & auto-renewal can be disabled at any time by going to your device “Settings” and tapping “iTunes & App Store”. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable. If you have any questions or comments, email us any time: customersupport@skyscape.com or call 508-299-30000 Privacy Policy-https://www.skyscape.com/terms-of-service/privacypolicy.aspx Terms and Conditions-https://www.skyscape.com/terms-of-service/licenseagreement.aspx Editor(s): Mari J. Wirfs, PhD, MN, RN, APRN, ANP-BC, FNP-BC, CNE Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

Screenshots

Nursing Central4 screens
APRN and PA’s Complete Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Nursing Central at 74% against APRN and PA’s Complete Guide's 0%. Nursing Central also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.9 vs 4.5). APRN and PA’s Complete Guide's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs paid) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Nursing Central sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year and APRN and PA’s Complete Guide sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $39.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nursing Central holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nursing Central has 10K ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Nursing Central's written reviews are positive against 0% of APRN and PA’s Complete Guide's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nursing Central ships an update every 6 weeks, APRN and PA’s Complete Guide every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Nursing Central versus APRN and PA’s Complete Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNursing CentralAPRN and PA’s Complete Guide
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (10K ratings) — better4.5 (24 ratings)
Positive reviews74.2% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings10K — better24
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#81 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB148 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.Skyscape Medpresso Inc

Customer experience

Nursing Central

All ratings10,393 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews155 reviews
Positive74.2%
Neutral4.5%
Negative21.3%

APRN and PA’s Complete Guide

All ratings24 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Nursing Central

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login and account issues
  • Syncing problems across devices
  • Outdated content and lack of updates
  • Compatibility problems with newer devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline access to content
  • More detailed disease and medication information
  • Integration with electronic medical records
  • Video tutorials and demonstrations
  • Improved search and filtering capabilities

APRN and PA’s Complete Guide

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Nursing Central

Subscriptions3
  • Intravenous Medications$49.991 Year
  • Drugs and Tools Renewal$49.991 Year
  • Nursing Central$99.991 Year
One-time9
  • NCLEX-RN Quest$19.99
  • RNotes 5th Edition$29.99
  • RNotes$29.99
Show 6 more
  • Disaster Nursing$39.99
  • Taylor's Clinical$42.99
  • Nurse's Pocket Guide$49.99
  • Nurse's Pocket Guide 16e$49.99
  • Nurses' Health Assessment2 variants$59.99
  • Nursing Central$199.99
2 purchases

APRN and PA’s Complete Guide

Subscriptions1
  • APRN & PA’s Complete Guide$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • APRN & PA’s Complete Guide$39.99

Questions

Is Nursing Central free?
Nursing Central is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is APRN and PA’s Complete Guide free?
APRN and PA’s Complete Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Nursing Central or APRN and PA’s Complete Guide?
Nursing Central is rated higher. Nursing Central averages 4.9 out of 5 from 10K ratings, while APRN and PA’s Complete Guide averages 4.5 from 24 ratings.
Do Nursing Central or APRN and PA’s Complete Guide have ads?
APRN and PA’s Complete Guide shows ads; Nursing Central does not.
Which is updated more often, Nursing Central or APRN and PA’s Complete Guide?
Nursing Central ships an update every 6 weeks, and APRN and PA’s Complete Guide every 8 months. Most recently, Nursing Central was updated on September 24, 2026 and APRN and PA’s Complete Guide on September 12, 2026.

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