Teaching Advanced Health Assessment from a Nursing Perspective by Utilizing Faculty-Produced Videos

With the new essentials for graduate nursing education, almost all graduate nursing students are now required to complete a course in Advanced Health Assessment. Since many of the students are distance-learning students, it was necessary to create an online version of this curriculum. Previously, the only videos available to nursing faculty were physician-produced and physician-acted assessment videos which came from a very medical perspective. Copyright issues and cost prohibited the use of these videos in an online class. With a commitment to providing health assessment instruction from a nursing prospective, I created eighteen videos for use as a teaching strategy in this course. Each video addressed a certain aspect of the complete head-to-toe physical examination, and each examination was conducted by a board-certified nurse practitioner. Videos were also created to provide instructions on screenings for visual acuity, hearing, and scoliosis. The simulated patients were volunteer students on most occasions, with the exception of professional models which were hired for the female and male reproductive system examinations. These videos are currently being viewed by students both in online classes and in the live classroom setting. They are also being utilized across the curriculum by both undergraduate and graduate students.  The response from the students has been overwhelmingly positive, since they are now exposed to a more appropriate model of the nurse practitioner role and they have exposure to health assessment from a nursing perspective.