| Course | N437 Healthcare Informatics |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | Informatics presentation |
| Length | About 989 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 slide deck with speaker notes |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Pre-licensure BSN |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for N437 Module 8
From Marker to Monitor: What Digital Patient Room Whiteboards Can and Cannot Do for Communication on a Medical-Surgical Unit
Student Name
Pre-licensure BSN Program, Aspen University
N437: Healthcare Informatics
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Slide 2: Why the Whiteboard Matters
The board faces the patient all day
Names, plan, goal for the day, discharge date
Often blank, out of date or unreadable
Speaker notes: Good afternoon. My topic is the whiteboard on the wall of every patient room. It is the one piece of information technology the patient sees all day. On a good day it tells them who their nurse is, what the plan is and when they might go home. On many days, as you know, it still shows yesterday's nurse or a date three days old. I want to ask whether moving it onto a digital screen fed by the record would help us.
Slide 3: What Clinicians Value on the Board
Survey of 104 nurses, 118 residents, 31 hospitalists
Nurses use and read boards far more than physicians
Valued: family contact, goal for the day, discharge date
Top barrier: no pens
Speaker notes: A survey at one academic hospital asked 104 nurses, 118 resident physicians and 31 hospitalists about whiteboards. Nurses used and read them far more than physicians. Everyone valued family contact information, and nurses especially valued a goal for the day and an anticipated discharge date. Most thought nurses should keep the board accurate, and the most common barrier was simply missing pens (Sehgal et al., 2010). That tells us the board is largely a nursing tool, and it fails for ordinary reasons.
Slide 4: Does It Change Patients' Experience?
Boards placed in every room on medicine wards
Satisfaction with nurse communication rose 6.4 points
Physician communication rose 4.0; decision involvement 6.3
No change on surgical wards without boards
Speaker notes: One hospital placed whiteboards in every room on its medicine wards and compared patient satisfaction before and after, using surgical wards without boards as a comparison. On the 0 to 100 scale, satisfaction with nurse communication rose by 6.4 points, physician communication by 4.0 and involvement in decisions by 6.3, while surgical wards did not change (Singh et al., 2011). It is a before-and-after design, so other factors could contribute, but the direction is encouraging.
Slide 5: What the Literature Says Overall
Review of whiteboard studies
Boards can support patient-centered care
Benefits depend on consistent use and content
Few studies of digital boards
Speaker notes: A review of the whiteboard literature concluded that boards can improve patient-centered care, but only when they are used consistently and carry content patients find useful, such as the care team, the plan and the expected discharge (Tan et al., 2013). What is missing is strong evidence about digital boards specifically. So what I am presenting is a proposal to test, not a proven solution.
Slide 6: What a Digital Board Adds
Names pulled from the assignment system
Scheduled tests and procedures from orders
Pain reassessment time, mobility goal, fall risk icon
Updates automatically at shift change
Speaker notes: A digital board is a screen in the room that pulls information from the electronic record and staffing systems. It can show today's nurse and assistant automatically when assignments are made, list scheduled tests from the orders, show when pain will be rechecked, display the mobility goal and a fall-risk symbol, and update at shift change without anyone finding a marker. That solves the blank board and the missing-pen problem.
Slide 7: What Could Go Wrong
Wrong data shown confidently
Privacy: visitors can read the screen
Loss of the handwritten personal touch
Downtime and cost
Speaker notes: There are real risks. If the record is wrong, the screen displays wrong information with the authority of a computer. Screens face the room, so visitors can read them, which means we must choose carefully what appears, never diagnoses or sensitive results. Patients often value a nurse writing her name and a personal note, which a screen can lose. And screens fail, cost money and need maintenance.
Slide 8: Informatics Decisions We Would Make
Which fields display, and who approves them
Patient choice to hide items
A free-text box the nurse writes in
What shows during downtime
Speaker notes: If we try this, several informatics decisions come first. A small group of nurses, a patient advisor and privacy staff should approve every field. Patients should be able to ask for items to be hidden. We should keep a free-text box so the nurse can still write a goal in the patient's own words. And we need a plan for downtime, such as a small paper board beside the screen.
Slide 9: A Pilot on 3 South
Eight rooms digital, eight rooms marker board
Twelve weeks
Measures: board accuracy at random checks, patient knowledge of nurse's name and plan, nurse minutes per shift
Speaker notes: I propose a 12-week pilot on our unit: eight rooms with digital boards and eight comparable rooms with standard boards. Twice a week, a charge nurse would check whether each board is accurate. We would ask patients before discharge whether they knew their nurse's name and the plan for the day, and we would ask nurses how many minutes they spend updating boards. That gives us local data before any spending decision.
Slide 10: What I Cannot Promise
Evidence mostly from marker boards
Satisfaction gains came from before-and-after designs
Digital boards may shift work, not remove it
Speaker notes: To be honest, most of the evidence comes from marker boards, and the satisfaction gains come from studies that cannot rule out other changes. Digital boards may simply move work from writing to correcting data in the record. That is why I am asking for a pilot, not a purchase.
Slide 11: My Request
Approve a 12-week pilot in 16 rooms
Informatics and privacy review before launch
Report back to practice council
Speaker notes: My request is that the practice council approve a 12-week pilot in 16 rooms, with informatics and privacy review before launch, and that we report the results to this council at the end. Thank you. I welcome your questions.
References
Sehgal, N. L., Green, A., Vidyarthi, A. R., Blegen, M. A., & Wachter, R. M. (2010). Patient whiteboards as a communication tool in the hospital setting: A survey of practices and recommendations. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 5(4), 234-239. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhm.638
Singh, S., Fletcher, K. E., Pandl, G. J., Schapira, M. M., Nattinger, A. B., Biblo, L. A., & Whittle, J. (2011). It's the writing on the wall: Whiteboards improve inpatient satisfaction with provider communication. American Journal of Medical Quality, 26(2), 127-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/1062860610376088
Tan, M., Hooper Evans, K., Braddock, C. H., III, & Shieh, L. (2013). Patient whiteboards to improve patient-centred care in the hospital. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 89(1056), 604-609. https://doi.org/10.1136/postgradmedj-2012-131296
N437 Module 8 instructions, in plain terms
Aspen's catalog closes the N437 description with a student presentation on an informatics topic of the student's choosing, which is the basis for this example while the module's prompt stays inside the course. A presentation assignment usually asks for a set number of slides with speaker notes, a clear topic, current evidence, implications for nursing and references. Some instructors require a recorded voiceover; others want notes only. Check the slide count, whether a title slide and references slide count toward it, how much text slides may carry, and whether you should end with a recommendation. Confirm how citations should appear on slides and in notes. Some instructors also grade delivery, so practice aloud.
How the N437 Module 8 example is put together
The deck has ten content slides after the title slide, with about 990 words of slide text and speaker notes. The first slide explains why the whiteboard matters. Two slides present evidence, one from a clinician survey and one from a ward comparison, and a third summarizes a review. One slide describes what a digital board adds and the next what could go wrong. A slide lists the informatics decisions to make first. The pilot design, an honest slide on limits and a closing request complete the deck. Slides stay brief, never more than a handful of lines, while the notes hold the explanation and every citation. Speaker notes carry every citation, and the slides stay uncluttered.
Where the marks sit in the N437 Module 8 rubric
Presentations are often graded on content accuracy, organization, use of evidence, slide design and a clear conclusion. Content is accurate and every finding is cited with its design, which a margin note explains. Organization moves from problem to evidence, proposal, risks, limits and request. Slide design is disciplined, with short lines on slides and detail in the notes. Risks appear before the proposal, and a second note explains why that builds trust. The conclusion is a specific request with a defined scope, which gives the audience a decision. The final points reward correct APA citations in the notes and on the references slide for the three sources. Timing within the allotted minutes also counts in many rubrics.
N437 Module 8 help from the desk
The most common presentation mistake is putting paragraphs on slides and reading them aloud. Keep slides short and speak from notes. Students also present a technology as a solution without evidence or limits, which weakens credibility with an informed audience. Show both. Another frequent gap is ending with a thank-you slide and no request, leaving the audience unsure what to do. Ask for something specific. Some presenters cite sources only on the final slide, making it hard to see which claim comes from where. Cite in the notes as you go. Finally, rehearse with a timer, since running over time is the easiest way to lose points. Leave a minute at the end for questions.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Aspen University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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N437 Module 8 questions, answered
What does N437 Module 8 usually ask for?
Aspen's N437 description ends with a student presentation on an informatics topic, so slides with speaker notes on one topic of your choice are typical. Check your classroom for slide count and format.
How much text should go on each slide?
Keep slides to a few short lines and put the explanation and citations in the speaker notes. The audience should listen to you, not read paragraphs.
How do I cite sources in a presentation?
Cite in the speaker notes and on a references slide in APA format, and give study details, such as sample size and design, when you state a finding.
Where can I find a free N437 Module 8 sample paper?
The complete slide deck with speaker notes, and a margin note on each key slide, can be read in full above without any charge or login. It closes the eight-part N437 series.
How many slides should an N437 Module 8 presentation have?
Follow your instructor's count. Ten to twelve content slides with speaker notes is common, with a title slide and a references slide added.