Nurse Practitioners play a critical role in addressing BC’s evolving primary and acute care needs. They must be prepared to recognize and respond to electrocardiograms (ECG) abnormalities a critical skill that will allow for the provision of safe, timely and accurate care to ensure high-quality patient outcomes. Yet, many receive limited training in interpreting (ECGs).
This part-time hybrid course is designed to equip nurse practitioners and primary care physicians with foundational knowledge in ECG interpretation and differential diagnosis. It provides learners with deep understandings of the cardiac anatomy and cycle, emphasizing the inter-relatedness of the anatomy, physiology, and the conduction system. Learners will develop skills for performing and interpreting ECGs; being able to troubleshoot common errors in waveforms and identify and differentiate normal cardiac rhythms from most common dysrhythmias.
Gain practical knowledge and tools to support safe, competent, and timely patient care—developed in close consultation with Nurse Practitioner leads from Providence Health and Fraser Health, as well as a cardiologist, all of whom bring specialized expertise in ECG to reflect real-world needs.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Describe the anatomy and physiology of the heart, including the relationship between the electrical conduction system and the cardiac cycle.
- Demonstrate accurate performance of a 12-lead ECG, including correct electrode placement and quality assessment of the ECG tracing.
- Describe the components of ECG waveforms and how they relate to the conduction system and the cardiac cycle.
- Ability to systematically identify changes in normal ECG waveform morphology (P wave, PR interval, QRS complex, ST segment, QT interval, and T wave), formulate a differential diagnosis for these abnormalities, and apply evidence-based management strategies to optimize patient outcomes.
For course details and information on the StrongerBC future skills grant, visit the Extended Learning Page (click below).