Table of Contents
About the Authors
| Kaitlyn Burke, MS, RN, CCRN, CNEcl Instructional Design Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing, School of Nursing |
| Tara Serwetnyk, EdD, RN, NPD-BC Director of Academic Innovation, Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing, School of Nursing |
About the Tool and Class
| Title | Using Adobe Spark and Google Maps to Create and Share Patient Education for an Intermediate Medical/Surgical Nursing Course |
| Tool | Adobe Spark (https://spark.adobe.com) Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps) |
| Tool Description | Adobe Spark Pages is accessible as mobile apps for Android and iOS as well as through the web-based platform Adobe Creative Cloud Express. Spark Pages allows users to create “gliding web pages” using available themes, fonts, stock images, and stock music while also allowing for user creativity through photo, video, and music uploads and customization. Adobe emphasizes that no design experience is necessary to create professional and polished pages. Google Maps is a web-based service that is accessible as an app, which offers aerial and satellite views of national and international locations; for some areas, Google Maps can display detailed street views. Google Maps has many features such as: sharing your location, viewing local traffic status, creating travel directions, and researching a specific area to identify local resources (restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, health care facilities, etc.). |
| Class/Target Level | NUR 376 /Intermediate level – Undergraduate |
| Course Title | Intermediate Medical-Surgical Nursing |
| Background Information About the Class | NUR 376, “Intermediate Medical-Surgical Nursing,” is a course for students enrolled in the Accelerated Bachelor’s Program for Non-Nurses (APNN). The course enrollment fluctuates depending upon the admitted cohort size. Content in the course builds on fundamental nursing concepts and skills utilizing critical thinking and the nursing process to provide holistic care for clients with chronic health conditions. Emphasis is placed on nursing roles in medical/surgical care and the community. Integrated throughout this course are concepts of health promotion and risk reduction, critical thinking, prioritization, collaboration, diverse and culturally sensitive care, and safe-care practices. High and low-fidelity simulation experiences provide students the opportunity to formulate a client-centered plan of care and apply evidence-based practice to optimize client outcomes. |
| Lesson Time | Time to complete assignment: Approximately 4 hours Class Presentation time: 2 hours |
| Number of Students | 40-80 |
| Learning Outcomes | 1. Apply concepts learned from pre-learning, class, and lab activities that relate to social determinants of health and their impact on patient care. 2. Summarize findings from the assigned patient’s neighborhood exploration. Construct an educational resource using Adobe Spark for the patient and family in assigned locations, addressing specific, identified needs. |
Lesson Plan
Opening
Health disparities among vulnerable populations and communities need to be a focal point in today’s healthcare environment. The APNN program expects students to examine the impact of health determinants on client care across diverse populations and contexts throughout the lifespan by program completion; in NUR 376, students are expected to apply holistic care for patients with chronic and end-of-life health conditions.
Body
One of the students’ final deliverables is a Community Health Hospice assignment. To successfully complete students need to apply knowledge from didactic content and lab experiences to care for a simulated patient as they progress from a chronic disease diagnosis to requiring hospice care. As the patient’s prognosis deteriorates, students need to examine the patient’s neighborhood using Google Maps; students are provided “patient address” that can be anywhere across the nation. Based on the community analysis, students work in groups to create an individualized educational resource for the patient and their family using Adobe Spark Pages. The completed resource must consider co-morbidities, treatment options, and health determinants. Because the APNN program utilizes iPads to facilitate learning, students can easily use Adobe Spark and Google Maps to complete this assignment. Although, the tools utilized for this assignment are agnostic and can be completed using multiple types of devices. In addition, this activity can be applied to a real-life patient in the clinical setting as nurses often provide patients with education based on individualized needs.
Closing
This assignment exposes students to digital technologies that can be utilized in practice to explore resources in the community and provide individualized patient education. The educational resource developed by the student is easily accessible as it can be printed, emailed, or viewed on any device. Also, because the completed assignment is applicable to patient care, students can display them in a portfolio and/or present them in the clinical setting.
Findings/Assessment
An assignment rubric is utilized to provide students with clear criteria of what should be considered when creating the educational resource. The rubric also provides guidance to faculty and ensures consistency in grading. All students were highly successful in meeting the student outcomes for this assignment, and grades have ranged from 88-100% since the assignment was implemented in Summer 2021. Additionally, Google Maps allowed the students to collectively research areas across the nation, and the Adobe Page is professional, organized, and captivating, compared to a traditional presentation.
Accommodation
Accommodation/Differentiation
Students were randomly assigned to groups. Because the assignment was to be completed outside of class sessions, students had the autonomy to decide what work they wanted to contribute to the project (researching the community, creating the resource, etc.).
Reflection
Reflection from instructor
The faculty that implemented this assignment expressed that both tools enhanced the deliverable. They also commented that the final deliverable was much more professional than previous semesters when other technologies (PowerPoint, Word) were utilized.
Preparation time/materials
Minimal preparation time/materials are required of instructors as both Google Maps and Adobe Spark is easily accessible via the app or website. Tutorials overviewing how to utilize both digital technologies are readily available and take minimal time to view if desired.
Benefits and challenges of the tool
Both digital technologies can be used on any type of device.
In-class experience
The assignment was mainly completed outside of the class meeting time. Students were required to present their created educational resources during one class session. Students were able to broadcast their educational resources when presenting by utilizing technology in the classroom (AppleTV, projector screen).
Ease of use/Ranking
Both digital technologies require a beginner-level skill set.
Reflection from students
Students expressed that both tools are easy and fun to use. Students found Adobe Spark to be a creative way to develop patient education materials. They also enjoyed researching and sharing learned information of community resources available nationally.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.