Authors

  1. Pence, Patricia EdD, MSN, RN

Article Content

Cardiovascular pathophysiology can be a complex topic for nurse educators to teach in an on-campus class. Adding the recent transition from an on-campus class to a Zoom class during the COVID-19 pandemic can pose further issues for nurse educators, particularly when attempting to engage students in a virtual learning environment. One particular issue is that the nurse educator may not always be able to visually observe whether the nursing students are actively participating in the Zoom class. Some students may choose to not display their participant video during the Zoom class, resulting in only a visual representation of their name that is seen by the nurse educator. To help increase student engagement and learning in a prelicensure pathophysiology pharmacotherapeutics nursing course, the Notes Page feature of PowerPoint was applied during a Zoom class on cardiovascular pathophysiology concepts. A narrated voice-over PowerPoint was posted in the online Learning Management System prior to the class. Additional concepts were outlined in the Notes Page section of PowerPoint. Students were instructed to take notes in the Notes feature of PowerPoint during the faculty-led lecture. Students were also encouraged to ask questions during the class in the chat feature of Zoom or by "unmuting" their audio and asking questions directly. Using the Guide Notes outline in the Notes Page proved to be an effective teaching strategy for increasing engagement and participation by the nursing students during a Zoom class.