Techno Health Club, one of the student clubs of our university, organized an “ECG Course” on 25 May 2022 to contribute to the vocational training of students and professionals in the fields of health sciences. The theoretical part of the course, which was open to external participation, was held in the classrooms of our University, while the simulation classroom of IMU Nursing Department was used for the practical part of the training. A total of 34 people attended the course, which aimed to provide participants with basic ECG information.
The course curriculum aimed to teach the participants ECG recording and reading skills. In the training, theoretical information about the anatomy and physiology of the heart, cardiac arrhythmias and pathological arrhythmias in ECG was first presented. It was stated that ECG, which is used for the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases and allows to graphically record the electrical activity that occurs during the contraction of the heart, provides an important advantage in reducing the health risks that may occur in people with arrhythmia by making an accurate and rapid diagnosis. While it was informed that ECG can be used in the diagnosis of many heart diseases such as heart arrhythmias, heart enlargement, hypertension, electrolyte imbalance, it was underlined that in some cases ECG should be supported by other examinations for correct diagnosis.
Following the theoretical training, the practical training session of the course was held in the Simulation Laboratory of the Nursing Department of our University. Under the guidance of the course instructor, the participants had the opportunity to practice ECG recording through simulation models and real recordings and then interpreted the recording results in terms of nursing care. This practical process enabled the participants to improve their skills in performing ECG, interpreting and reporting the results.
Thus, future healthcare professionals were provided with an important vocational training opportunity to diagnose cardiovascular diseases with ECG and to realize the Sustainable Development Goal of “reducing one third of premature deaths from non-communicable diseases by 2030”.