Theoretical knowledge of nurses working in non-hospital urgent and emergency care units concerning cardiopulmonary arrest and resuscitation

Abstract

Non-Hospital Urgent and Emergency Care Units were created to deliver care to patients in chronic or acute situations and to coordinate the flow of urgent care. This descriptive study analyzed the theoretical knowledge of nurses working in these units concerning cardiopulmonary arrest and resuscitation. A questionnaire was applied to 73 nurses from 16 units in seven cities in the region of Campinas, SP, Brazil. The respondents displayed some gaps in their knowledge such as how to detect Cardiopulmonary Arrest (CPA), the ability to list the sequence of basic life support, and how to determine the appropriate compression to ventilation ratio (>60%). They also did not know: the immediate procedures to take after CPA detection (>70%); the rhythm pattern present in a CPA (>80%); and they only partially identified (100%) the medication used in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The average score on a scale from zero to ten was 5.2 (± 1.4). The nurses presented partial knowledge of the guidelines available in the literature. Conocimiento teórico de los enfermeros sobre parada cardiorrespiratoria y resucitación cardiopulmonar en unidades no hospitalarias de atención de urgencia y emergenciaLas Unidades no hospitalarias de Atención de Urgencia y Emergencia fueron creadas para atender pacientes con cuadros agudos o crónicos agudos y ordenar los flujos de urgencia.El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el conocimiento teórico de los enfermeros de esas unidades sobre parada cardiorrespiratoria y resucitación cardiopulmonar. Se trata de un estudio descriptivo, cuyos datos fueron obtenidos aplicando un cuestionario a 73 enfermeros de 16 unidades, de siete municipios de la Región Metropolitana de Campinas. Se observó que los entrevistados presentaron vacíos de conocimiento sobre como detectar: la parada cardiorrespiratoria, la secuencia del soporte básico de vida y la relación ventilación/compresión (>60%); desconocen las conductas que deben adoptadas inmediatamente después de la detección (> 70%) y los estándares de ritmos presentes en la parada cardíaca (> 80%); y identificaron parcialmente (100%) los fármacos utilizados en la resucitación cardiopulmonar. La nota promedio fue 5,2 (±1,4), en una escala de cero a diez. Se concluye que los enfermeros presentaron conocimiento parcial de las directrices disponibles en la literatura.

Professors' Training In Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Using Realistic Simulation: Evaluation Of The Effectiveness

“…Regarding the sequence of maneuvers for CPR, only 14 (64%) correctly identified it in the pretest, compared with another study [1], in which professionals also had difficulty enumerating the correct sequence.…”

“…Literature data [1] show there is significant reduction of knowledge in ten weeks, so there must be a constant update to ensure better quality and performance, since the theoretical and practical skills tend to decline over time.…”

“…The compression-ventilation ratio was known by only 12 (55%) participants, low rate that relates to another study [1], reinforcing the need for periodic training, since the guidelines are constantly updated.…”

“…Cardiopulmonary arrest (CPA) leads to a sudden and unexpected condition of absolute deficiency of tissue oxygenation, either circulatory inefficiency or cessation of respiratory activity [1][2][3],and even in situations of great service to the CPA, time is an important variable, and it is estimated that every minute the individual remains in CPA, 10% of survival probability is lost [4].…”

Theoretical and simulation classes in the emergency nursing curriculum in Cape Verde: Effect on the self-confidence to intervene in emergencies

“…This training is crucial for high quality interventions in complex situations, such as cardiopulmonary arrests. It is important to remember that quality interventions are able to double or triple the patient's chance of survival [5] .…”