Authors

  1. Aul, Karen PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE

Article Content

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented teaching challenges, especially teaching a virtual health assessment course. Nursing students may not have access to a person within their environment to practice their health assessment skills. Nursing faculty also may lack an available person to facilitate their teaching. It can be challenging to demonstrate a health assessment skill through a synchronous video conference. To facilitate teaching, a low-cost inflatable manikin was bought by a faculty member. On inflation, this vinyl manikin stood 36 inches tall, with a head outlined in facial features, a torso, and extremities. Anatomical markings were drawn on the manikin's body to signify areas to auscultate cardiovascular, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal sounds (Supplemental Digital Content, Photo, http://links.lww.com/NE/A873). The manikin was then dressed in a pullover shirt to cover the marked body areas. The intention of putting a shirt on the manikin was to simulate the need to move the clothing to demonstrate using the stethoscope directly on the skin for auscultation. After the modifications, the manikin was ready for teaching and was used during the weekly virtual health assessment class. The manikin served as the prop to show how and where to auscultate for assessment. The nursing students appreciated learning from an inflatable manikin in the synchronous class sessions.