Authors

  1. Reed, Karen S. DHSc, MSN, RN, CNE, CNL, CRRN

Article Content

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic offers educators with the opportunity to provide students with real-time learning experience evaluating the health literacy standards of current public health educational materials. A recently developed lesson plan calls for nursing students familiar with the concepts associated with health literacy to divide into small groups and seek out and analyze public health educational information material related to the COVID-19 virus. Questions are provided to the student groups to guide them in their analysis, including the following: Did the authors meet federal Plain Language Guidelines? What is the reading level of the content? Is the most important message presented first? Does the material use headings, bullets, and tables to organize the information? The groups each present one PowerPoint slide with their findings, discussing with classmates the strengths and weaknesses of the health education message and how the message could be improved. Student feedback on the learning activity, using an anonymous polling feature, indicated a significant realization by the students on the vital role nurses play in addressing health literacy issues in promoting the public's well-being. It also provided the educator with an opportunity to support students navigating the students' own concerns about COVID-19.