An EKG Interpretation Primer

Reviewed by Lisa Kuppler-Lee, Nursing Faculty, Radford University on 8/4/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book is very good EKG book not only for nursing students but as a review for nurses whom have been away from the bedside as a good refresher course. It covers all areas from anatomy & physiology to the various rhythms including one which can be seen pre-MI. A few drawbacks are it does not start with an introduction and the 1st chapter is Chapter 0 which is uncommon for textbooks. Also, the Table of Contents is seen on-line but not when downloaded. Chapter 1 starts with a glossary of terms which would have been more helpful prior to discussing the polarization & depolarization of the cardiac muscles. Additionally, the section referring to electricity & polarization is not necessary.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The only inaccuracy was the diagram on page 3. All the vessels carrying oxygenated blood were colored & typed with red ink while the de-oxygenated were blue. The aorta was colored red but typed with blue ink. The pulmonary veins were typed with blue instead of red and the left ventricle was typed with blue ink instead of red. This could confusing to many who are focused on knowing the the circulatory based on color.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The heart & EKG will not become obsolete. New rhythms might be added and the design of this text will allow the easy addition of such.

Clarity rating: 5

As mentioned earlier, this book could be used for nursing students or nurses returning to the workforce after years away.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is very consistent in terms of chapter layout. Uses a standard method for arrhythmia interpretation.

Modularity rating: 5

Each chapter can be assigned separately or 2-3 chapters can be assigned as a group. A nursing instructor would find this beneficial if wanting to assign the atrial rhythms and then the heart blocks. Each can stand alone or be part of a group or book.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The book covers the basics of the heart's electrical system prior to discussing how to "read & measure" all the little boxes on the EKG strip & then how to set up the EKG cables on the patient. I would have have described setting up the EKG then discussed reading the EKG strip immediately prior to reviewing the various rhythms. Some of the rhythms seem "out of place".

Interface rating: 5

No interfacing problems seem to exist.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No cultural insensitivity present.

Reviewed by Earlene Masi, Assistant Professor, Anderson University on 12/29/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book does a great job introducing the basics of EKG. It is a great book for not only nursing students but other allied health professionals (e.g. Exercise science). The text provides the reader with simple diagrams that align well with content being discussed.

The textbook is provided through a word document and is easily downloadable. It is missing a table of contents, which is something I highly recommend including. There is a table of contents when you first locate text through Open Textbook Library but it is not included in the word document. Also no references found.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content of the text is very accurate. Again, this is a great text for those learning about the basics of an EKG and its rhythm interpretation. In Chapter 3, I do think it could be more detailed in the preparation of lead placement to avoid/limit any artifact or noise on an EKG (i.e. skin prep).
Even thought the content appears to be accurate, a concern is that this text does not provide any sort of references/citations, which could limit it's integrity.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Very relevant and up to date.

Clarity rating: 5

Easy to read and comprehend. The author keeps terminology basic making it easier for the reader to understand without feeling overwhelmed. I do think the text could be more detailed in the preparation of lead placement to avoid/limit any artifact or noise on an EKG (i.e. skin prep).

Consistency rating: 4

The text appears to remain fairly consistent. I think instead of labeling beginning of textbook as Chapter 0 it could be labeled as either Introduction or Chapter 1 so it is consistent with other textbooks. Again, having a Table of Contents would be extremely helpful for the reader to better locate/refer back to certain topics within the text.

Modularity rating: 5

The text does a great job separating out its content into chapters and sub headings.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The content flows well making it easy for the reader to follow and understand.

Interface rating: 5

The text seems to download well without any distortion to the images provided. Diagrams align well with content being discussed, making it easier for the reader to understand.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no grammatical errors within the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

N/A.

Comments

This text would be an excellent resource to utilize in a beginner level EKG course for any allied health related field, especially being that it is free.

Reviewed by Jonathan Jones, Department Chair, Allied Health, Aiken Technical College on 5/24/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Very detailed information in the chapters.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Information is highly accurate in reference to other materials I have used.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Very relevant and not something that is likely to change each year.

Clarity rating: 5

Very easy to follow the material with numerous explanations.

Consistency rating: 5

Very consistent with other texts on this topic.

Modularity rating: 5

Easily divisible into modules.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Very well organized

Interface rating: 5

No navigation or interface issues were noted.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors were noted

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book was on EKG interpretations so not sure how it could have been culturally insensitive.

Comments

None

Reviewed by Dharmendra Nimavat, Associate W, Southern Illinois University Carbondale on 2/24/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Overall it’s good for beginners

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I think this is a very good book for beginners

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

It’s about EKG so interpretation is easy

Clarity rating: 5

Clearly outlines main points

Consistency rating: 5

Presentation is consistent

Modularity rating: 4

It does very good job

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Very well organized

Interface rating: 5

No issues

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Don’t see any issues

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Not applicable

Reviewed by Peeranuch LeSeure, Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on 7/2/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book covers all content areas necessary for novice nursing students and nurses. It would be helpful to include a preface. Providing a preface, table of contents, figure numbers and captions as well as references will increase the academic integrity of the book. Although illustrations highlight important pieces of text and make difficult content easier to understand, captions and figure numbers for the images would benefit the readers. The author should also be aware of providing references for information retrieved from copyright resources.
For example, the figure on page 31, 12 Lead Electrode Placement, the resource should be provided. This should be done throughout the book to prevent copyright violation. Text or tables should be in the original format, page 50, 53, for example. If copied and pasted, the source of information should be given.
Chapter 0 - Anatomy and Physiology of the Heart is a good start. It provides background knowledge to the readers, which prepares the reader for the more complex content. However, the “What is Electricity and Polarization?” section is not necessary and will likely cause confusion.
Including the topic “Polarization and Ion Shifts in Cardiac Muscle” is exceptional. Not many books start the content out this way. It helps readers to understand the work of the human heart and why the EKG waves are generated and presented in a certain way.
Chapter 1 - EKG Basics and Terminology is extensive. It is an excellent introduction to the content and builds the foundation of understanding.
Chapter 2 - Electrical Activity of the Heart and Basic Wave Forms on an EKG provides baseline EKG interpretation. The writing style using questions and answers makes reading more challenging and encourages active reading.
Chapter 3 - EKG Machinery and Setup makes the book unique and more useful; not many books provide this information. This chapter prepares the reader to enter the real world.
Chapter 4 - Rhythm Interpretation provides an in-depth explanation and highlights problematic details and components found in ECG tests with pictures that illustrate the EKG.
Chapter 5 - 12 Leads and Special Rhythms provides clear and precise information about the EKG patterns. The text explanation is straightforward and easy to understand.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content is accurate and unbiased —no significant errors in terms of the facts presented in the book.
There are minor errors that might confuse the readers, especially visual learners. An example is page 3 where the author uses colored text to illustrate the veins and arteries giving the blue color to both left pulmonary artery and left pulmonary vein, when the blue text should be used for the pulmonary artery (deoxygenated blood), and red should be used for the pulmonary vein (oxygenated blood) receiving blood from the lungs. Thus, the aorta should be described with red color text as well. Similarly, blue should be used for the right ventricle since the right side of the heart receives deoxygenated blood from the body, and red for the left ventricle, “pumping oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body,” as said in the text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The EKG interpretation is the current understanding; it remains unless there is a discovery that affects existing knowledge. The book was written in a Microsoft Word Document format, which allows editing for improvement if needed.

Clarity rating: 5

A simple and clear writing style makes it easy for the reader to follow the contents, especially for nursing students or nurses whose English is a second language. Using a semi-formal written structure may reduce the academic integrity of the textbook. The author writes as if she is talking to the students (using first-person pronouns) rather than formally providing the content. This language is appropriate if the purpose of the book is an informal pocket guide instead of a textbook. Moreover, using figure numbers and captions when referring to the image of the heart and its blood vessels provides more clarity than terms such as “diagram” (page 61, for example).

Consistency rating: 4

The terminology is consistent. However, the author should be consistent about spelling out the numbers or using a numeric format as well as the format of heading and subheadings. Bullets might be used if needed.

Modularity rating: 5

The book is divided into chapters, and the content is relevant within its chapter. Each chapter is divided into topics and subtopics consistently throughout the book. There is no overlapping content.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The contents and topics are well structured, organized, and logically presented throughout the book. The author presents content that grows in complexity which enhances the flow of the material.

Interface rating: 5

The Microsoft Word format of the book makes it easy to be edited and improved; however, the format of the document could be affected by different versions of the software and operating system. Image appearance is clear; however, the dimension of the image should be appropriate for the page size. Colored images are self-explanatory and easy to understand.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Grammar errors are minor, relatively acceptable for the first draft publication. Some readers might catch it as they are reading through, but the errors did not convey different meanings of the sentences. However, proper punctuation is necessary.
Examples of incorrect grammar:
Page 2: Both terminology is correct should be “both terms” are correct.
Page 7: Cardiac muscle do not have ligand-gated channels should be “Cardiac muscles…”

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book is not offensive or have cultural conflicts.

Reviewed by Veronica Jean, Professor, Delagado on 5/3/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The author covers electrocardiogram interpretation (EKG) in a thorough manner. Basic information is explained from the equipment used to obtain an EKG to the interpretation of cardiac rhythms. The EKG interpretation primer includes information on pre-infarction issues such as Wellens Syndrome and many other EKG rhythm abnormalities that are life-threatening. The definitions/explanations are complete; however, the glossary nor the index exist.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content in the primer is accurate, unbiased, and with no errors found.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is up-to-date. Cardiac rhythms are physiological, which make the information less probable to become obsolete. The format used for this document is Microsoft Word and can be edited if there are new cardiac rhythms necessary to include in the text.

Clarity rating: 5

The content is clear and concise. EKG is a complex subject, but the author made the information easy to understand by the learners.

Consistency rating: 4

The terminology is consistent. There are some minor inconsistencies in the framework. There is no table of content when scrolling in the Chrome browser; however, the document outline is found in Google Docs. The chapters are not consistently identified in the outline. The chapters are labeled as Chapter 0, then Chapter 2, Chapters one, three, four, and five are not identified in the document outline.

Modularity rating: 5

The content can be presented in modules by chapters. The information would be best taught in a specific order for the purpose of clarity in the study of cardiac physiology. This primer can be reorganized in some subtopics, but not all. The foundation must be taught prior to the activity of interpreting the EKG rhythm.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The EKG primer has good structure with the exception of the inconsistency in the document outline and the index omission.

Interface rating: 5

There are no distractions or interfacing issues. The document is easy to scroll through. The diagrams and tables are also easy to follow.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no grammatical errors found.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book has no culturally offensive content found.

Comments

The book did not cite any references.