ABSTRACT
Background and Objectives: The role of effective basic life support (BLS) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is established. Reports on CPR knowledge assessment in Nepal are few and underline the gross lack of CPR knowledge.Material and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among residents, students, and teachers in a few Nepalese health institutions. A questionnaire based on BLS guidelines 2010 was used, incorporating total 30 questions.Results: Total 145 complete responses (63 females, 82 males) were obtained and analyzed. Mean and median of correct answers was 18 out of 30 (60%, range 3-26); 9% could identify the correct sequence of action from a given set of 7 CPR steps. By ANOVA, score correlated significantly with the background of person (scores highest 19 in ‘clinical’ group and 18 in ‘dentistry’ to 16.38 in ‘nursing’ and 15.09 in ‘non-clinical’; p=0.000) but not with other variables (sex, age, designation, academic degree, institution, and previous CPR training).Conclusion: Lack in CPR knowledge and awareness are reported worldwide. Findings of this study are similar. Although those with clinical background had better knowledge, poor correlations with other variables indicate lack of importance being given to CPR knowledge and skill by most people, even those working in big health institutions of the country.
ABSTRACT
Background: At the International Medical University (IMU), a half day cardiac life support teaching session was provided to fourth year medical students which included training on the use of the defibrillator machine, how to handle cardiac or respiratory arrest and drugs used for resuscitation. A new CLS (cardiac life support) training session was introduced and increased to a oneday course where students were given practical training first, which included 5 stations (airway equipment, mega codes, drugs for resuscitation, defibrillator use and cardiac rhythm identification) , MCQ (multiple choice questions) test and a mega code (practical)assessment. Objective: To evaluate the students’ knowledge on cardiac resuscitation after a change in the delivery of the cardiac life support training (CLS). Methodology: Group I, consisted of 82 students taught using the traditional teaching and Group II consisted of 77 students taught using hands on simulation. The students in both groups had an online manual to read prior to the session, were given an identical written exam six months after the CLS training. Group II, however, had an online pre-test. Results: There was a statistical difference in the final mean marks between the two groups with group II scoring higher (67.3) than group 1 (62.1). No significant marks difference was noted between male and female students for both the cohorts. Conclusion: There is a significant difference in medical students’ knowledge when cardiac life support is taught using simulation. IMU has adopted the new teaching method with simulated training for the cardiac life support courses with plans to implement higher fidelity and technology to the existing simulated teaching in other areas of medicine.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Basic life support (BLS), a key component of the chain of survival decreases the arrest – cardiopulmonary resuscitation interval and increases the rate of hospital discharge. The study aimed to explore the knowledge of and attitude towards basic life support (BLS) among medical/paramedical professionals.METHODS: An observational study was conducted by assessing response to self prepared questionnaire consisting of the demographic information of the medical/paramedical staff, their personnel experience/attitude and knowledge of BLS based on the 2005 BLS Guidelines of European Resuscitation Council.RESULTS: After excluding incomplete questionnaires, the data from 121 responders (27 clinical faculty members, 21 dental and basic sciences faculty members, 29 house officers and 44 nurses and health assistants) were analyzed. Only 9 (7.4％) of the 121 responders answered ≥11, 53 (43％) answered 7-10, and 58 (48％) answered <7 of 15 questions correctly. The clinical faculty members, house officers and nurses/HA had a mean score of 7.4±3.15, 7.37±2.02 and 6.63±2.16 respectively, while dental/basic sciences faculty members attained a least mean score of 4.52 ±2.13 (P<0.001). Those who had received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training within 5 years obtained a highest mean score of 8.62±2.49, whereas those who had the training more than 5 years back or no training obtained a mean score of 5.54±2.38 and 6.1±2.29 respectively (P=0.001). Those who were involved in resuscitation frequently had a higher median score of 8 in comparison to those who were seldom involved or not involved at all (P<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: The average health personnel in our hospital lack adequate knowledge in CPR/BLS. Training and experience can enhance knowledge of CPR of these personnel. Thus standard of CPR/BLS training and assessment are recommended at our hospital.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training methods have been gradually replaced by practice-oriented methods such as the American Heart Association (AHA) basic life support (BLS) course for healthcare providers. We attempted to investigate nurses' and other healthcare professionals' retention of BLS skills over time after taking the AHA BLS course for healthcare providers. METHODS: Healthcare providers were screened for their retention of CPR skills at regular intervals up to 1 year after completing the AHA BLS course. Certified BLS instructors administered skills tests. RESULTS: The degree of skills maintained over time decreased, but not significantly (p=0.207, p=0.160). The scores of written tests decreased over time, but not significantly (p=0.082). The degree of CPR knowledge and skills main-tained was higher in the nurse group than in the healthcare professional group; this difference was statistically significant (p=0.02, <0.001, <0.001). However, regarding the degree of knowledge and skills for CPR maintained over time, there was no statistically significant difference between each group. CONCLUSION: After the AHA BLS course for healthcare providers, in-hospital healthcare professionals retain significantly less information after 3 months. We suggest that a skill review is needed within 3 months after CPR training.