Assessment of nurses’ cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skills within three district hospitals in Botswana

Abstract

BackgroundNurses are usually the first to identify the need for and initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on patients with cardiopulmonary arrest in the hospital setting. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation has been shown to reduce in-hospital deaths when received from adequately trained health care professionals.AimWe aimed to investigate nurses’ retention of CPR knowledge and skills at district hospitals in Botswana.MethodsA quantitative, quasi-experimental study was conducted at three hospitals in Botswana. A pre-test, intervention, post-test, and a re-test after 6 months were utilised to determine the retention of CPR knowledge and skills. Non-probability, convenience sampling technique was used to select 154 nurses.The sequences of the test were consistent with the American Heart Association’s 2010 basic life support (BLS) guidelines for health care providers. Data were analysed to compare performance over time.ResultsThis study showed markedly deficient CPR knowledge and skills among registered nurses in the three district hospitals. The pre-test knowledge average score (48%) indicated that the nurses did not know the majority of the BLS steps. Only 85 nurses participated in the re-evaluation test at 6 months. While a 26.4% increase was observed in the immediate post-test score compared with the pre-test, the performance of the available participants dropped by 14.5% in the re-test 6 months after the post-test.ConclusionPoor CPR knowledge and skills among registered nurses may impede the survival and management of cardiac arrest victims. Employers and nursing professional bodies in Botswana should encourage and monitor regular CPR refresher courses.

A summative assessment of theoretical and practical competencies in BLS-AED-An empirical research methodology to obtain quantitative results

“…Since then, some other studies have been published, including a cut-off score. Saramma et al [33] and Rajeswaran et al [34] calculated the overall performance based on an average of a post-training knowledge score, and a score of 70% was set as a pass mark for overall performance. Others used steps in skills assessment that were graded and assigned penalty points, based on the participants' levels of performance.…”

“…Others used steps in skills assessment that were graded and assigned penalty points, based on the participants' levels of performance. [34,35] To evaluate the impact of a formal certified CPR training program on the knowledge and skill of CPR among nurses, we have used, in this study, a cut-off score according to the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) recommendations. [7] In those guidelines, a more rigorous evaluation for a specific group (health workers, first responders and instructors) was demanded; the current recommendations focus on the teaching of high-quality CPR.…”

Early identification and referral of organ donors in five private hospitals: A survey to determine the knowledge and views of critical care professional nurses pre and post a PowerPoint training intervention

“…The study was also limited by testing participants before and soon after the PowerPoint training intervention, and it is not known whether there was retention of knowledge in the longer term -this requires further investigation. There is much argument about performing the post test immediately after any PowerPoint training intervention; [36,37] however, this immediate post-test was a practical solution owing to time constraints and the logistical problems of sampling the same staff members again for post tests after a month in an environment of shift work. In the present study, no attrition of participants occurred in the post test that was applied immediately after the PowerPoint training intervention, in contrast to a Botswana nursing study [37] that concluded a reduction in participants from 154 to 85 in a post test 6-months after the initial test.…”

Knowledge acquisition and retention after a high flow training programme in Peru: a quasi-experimental single group pre–post design

“…Open access respiratory technology in RLS is the presence of a highquality training programme. 5 Current data suggest that knowledge and skills retention after initial training programmes decline over time, [6][7][8][9][10][11] highlighting the need for ongoing refresher training in order to sustain competency. As part of the initial deployment of high flow in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño (INSN) in 2016, we developed a comprehensive multidisciplinary high flow training programme that included initial and refresher training sessions for all PICU staff.…”