Hospital nursing departments are using PCs to process applications such as patient classification, nurse

staffing and scheduling, and personnel management applications.

* They are also found in educational and research settings, where they are used to conduct a multitude of
special educational and scientific function.

* Desktop can also serve as stand-alone workstations and can be linked to a network system to increase
their capabilities.

* Also available as portable, laptop, notebook, and handheld computers.

4. Handheld computers – are small, special function computers, although a few “full function” handheld
computers were introduced in the late 1990s.
More popular are palm-sized computers, including personal digital assistants (PDAs), which are the
smallest of the handheld computers.
PDA is a very small special function handheld computer which provides calendar, contacts, and note-
taking functions, and a variety of other functions (Hyperdictionary, 2004).

COMMON HARDWARE PERIPHERALS

KEYBOARD – Is the most common input device

a. Sections of keys:
b. Typewriter keys
c. Function keys
d. Numeric keypad
e. Cursor keys
f. Toggle keys
g. Special operation keys
h. Typewriter key section – is the largest and contains keys that follow the standard QWERTY
arrangement of keys of a standard typewriter.
i. Function keys – (F1-F12) are software specific; that is they are programmable, since their
function is dependent on the software program being process.
Eg. F10 is used to retrieve a file in one word
processing package and to save in another.
Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys expand the function keys by using in combination with them carry out other
commands.

Numeric keypad
The second set of numeric keys that are placed differently on the keyboards than the alphabet keys. It
enables the user to enter numeric data more efficiently.
1. Num Lock key
2. Cursor keys
3. Major toggle keys:
4. Num lock
5. Caps lock
6. Scroll lock
7. Insert/Typeover

Special operation keys:

1. Home and end keys – bring the cursor to the beginning or the end of the line.
2. Print screen – print the screen display or saves it to the clipboard as a snapshot.
3. ESC (escape) – interrupts or cancels a function.
4. Tab key – moves the cursor to predetermined set tabs.
5. Del key - delete text.
6. Space bar – inserts blank space in a line.
7. Enter key – performs a variety of function depending on the context of the program. It sends
information to the computer, such as during sign-on procedures, in word processing it creates a
new paragraph, and it can be used to create a blank section in a document.

Monitor
It is a display screen component of a terminal that allows the user to see images, programs, commands
the user send to the computer, and results of the computer’s work (output).
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