Knowledge, attitude and practice study on cardiopulmonary resuscitation among medical and nursing interns

Abstract

Background: Cardiac arrest is a substantial public health problem estimated to account for 15–20% of all death. It is documented that a timely performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can largely prevent sudden death. Being important members of the health care delivery team, medical professionals and nursing staff are deemed to pass the basic skills and expertise which are needed to perform CPR. The principle objectives of the research project are to assess knowledge and attitude of CPR and to compare knowledge regarding CPR among medical and nursing students.Methods: It was a cross sectional study for duration of 2 month from March 2013 to April 2013, conducted among 100 nursing and medical interns of a tertiary care institute in Vijayawada (A.P). Pre tested structured questionnaire of 2010 American health association guidelines for CPR and basic life support (BLS) Practice Test of National Health Care Provider Solutions of 30 questions were used to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice among study participants. Results: The median for knowledge score of MBBS interns was 6 with inter-quartile range 2 and the median for the knowledge score of nursing interns was 6 with inter-quartile range 1. The median for the practice score for MBBS interns was 5 with inter-quartile range of 2.25 and median for practice score in case of nursing interns was 4 with inter-quartile range 2. 36% of MBBS interns had poor knowledge score and 46% of nursing interns had poor knowledge score. Conclusions: The present study identified the knowledge and practice score of BLS or CPR which is poor in both medical and nursing students, even though they have positive and good attitude towards it. BLS training should be the part of the curriculum to solve this issue.

Health-Care Providers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Adult Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Gojjam, Northwest Ethiopia

“… 3 , 4 A study conducted in India among medical and nursing interns showed that 36% of nursing interns and 46% of medical interns had poor knowledge and 42% of medical interns and 52% of nursing interns poor practices. 5 Almost all participants (99%) had positive attitudes toward CPR. 5 Another study conducted in Spain showed that 64.7% of hospital staff had attended at least one CPR course and 7% of nursing staff had not had CPR training to American Heart Association standards.…”

“… 5 Almost all participants (99%) had positive attitudes toward CPR. 5 Another study conducted in Spain showed that 64.7% of hospital staff had attended at least one CPR course and 7% of nursing staff had not had CPR training to American Heart Association standards. 6 A study conducted in India indicated that 17.6% of dental interns and 13% of dental postgraduate students had poor knowledge of CPR.…”

Knowledge and Skills of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation among Critical Care Nurses in Kuwaiti Hospitals

“…However, improving quality of care provided for patients experience cardiac arrest utilizing current knowledge and practice is needed to improve the CPR outcomes among patients [18]. In fact, the ability of nurses and the other health care professionals to deal with cardiac arrest effectively depends largely on their knowledge and training regarding the CPR procedure [19].…”

“…Poormirza et al [24] reported that CPR procedure is the most important life-saving skill for registered nurses. Besides, adequate knowledge and skills regarding CPR among critical care nurses and other health care providers is essential to increase the chance of survival and to avoid the post CPR complications [19]. According to Gempeler [25], having adequate CPR knowledge among the trained healthcare professionals is essential to perform CPR immediately and effectively, and to improve survival of patients who experience cardiac arrest.…”

“…Therefore, adequate knowledge, skills, and expertise in CPR among critical care nurses are essential to enable them to perform CPR effectively when needed. However, recent studies conducted in developed countries to examine CPR knowledge have shown knowledge deficit regarding CPR among registered nurses working in various hospital settings [1,12,19,26].…”