EKG interpretation in your curriculum

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Hello fellow educators. I am curious as to how EKG interpretaton is taught in your programs. Is it taught in class? In skills lab? Do you use modules? A special EKG textbook? How much is taught? Just the very basics or what? We are in the process of re-vamping our curriculum in our ADN nursing program and I am trying to get a handle on what other programs are doing! Thanks for your help.

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Hi,

I teach LVN program and we too have EKG. For me i just talked them through and we do not have a real EKG in skills lab. So my idea is when i get onto the clinical site and there is a pt who is getting an EKG then they can observe one being done.

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Specializes in SICU.

Not an educator - however in my ADN last semester we had to do 12 lead EKG's on each other in lab. Were lectured on reading strips and tested on the more basic strip readings. We also had clinicals, five weeks on a Tele floor and three weeks on a CCU. We had to pull and read our patients strips each clinical day.

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Not an educator. In my BSN program we had EKG interpretation in our lab class. It was not very detailed as I recall, just one portion of a semester's content. I do not even remember the material being covered in our theory course.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ER, L&D, ICU, OR, Educator.

hey, did you guys catch this utube video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvxjj2dbpiq

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

Hi,

I am a paramedic and a nursing student about to graduate. My ADN program did a terrible job teaching about EKGs in my oppinion, as they only gave the instructor an hour! An hour is not enough to teach someone about EKGs. Anyway my suggestion is that you do some basic teaching and then offer and add on option for those that want to stay late or if you can fit it into lecture do that. Whatever you do just make sure it is given an adequate time span. I was going to offer to do a special EKG class for my classmates, but I just got to busy to do it.

Sweetooth

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

If you teach the rhythms covered in the ACLS course that would be plenty. You can buy the course book from an AHA vendor (see their website) if you are not an instructor or have one already.

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We are responsible for (ADN students)

Atrial fib

NSR

Tachs/bradys

PVC (bigeminal, trigeminal, quads/unifocal/multifocal

V-tach

V-fib

asystole

evaluating the strip for: regularity, HR, PR interval, QRS interval, ST elevations/depressions

and what drugs/interventions to treat all of the above

we aren't doing a lot with heart blocks yet, though it is in our readings

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Specializes in Educator/ICU/ER.

I also teach in an ADN program and we teach the ACLS rhythms. The only block we discuss in class is 3rd degree. Otherwise we stick to the main rhythms. Some may not understand this, but our goal is broad and generic. If we were teaching everyone to be critical care nurses, that would be different. We want each student to learn more about their speciality when they get there.

So, give your instructors a break!! LOL

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