Electrocardiogram Visual Tutorials for Nurse Practitioner Students

Abstract

Background: The ability to interpret electrocardiograms (ECG) is diagnostically important, both for medical
doctors and for nurse practitioners in primary-care settings. The process of learning to read complex rhythm strips
and 12-lead ECGs can be very frustrating for students; teaching it can be challenging for some faculty members.
Of the many available textbooks and online courses, most are excellent and all have something to offer. However,
many nurse practitioners in primary care lack confidence in their ability to identify abnormalities in ECG strips
correctly.
Methods: A quasi-experimental, one group pretest-posttest research design was used to determine the effectiveness
of the intervention. Overall, 637 student-nurse practitioners from one university participated in the study. A quiz
was used to evaluate the participants’ ability to interpret electrocardiograms and their scores were collected as
pretest data. The students took part in an intervention that consisted of video lessons and associated quizzes. Their
scores from a later quiz on electrocardiogram interpretation were collected as posttest data.
Results: A paired samples t-test was conducted to assess the difference between pretest and posttest scores. The
results revealed a statistically significant difference between pretest and posttest scores, t(636) = 59.713, p = 0.000.
The mean difference was 49.330, indicating that the students significantly increased their ability to interpret
electrocardiograms as a result of participating in the intervention.
Conclusion: Online visual tutorials were an effective means of teaching student-nurse practitioners to interpret
ECGs.