Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation knowledge of registered nurses working in private hospital wards

摘要

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a skill that all registered nursesshould maintain. In South Africa, a new healthcare trend towardsaccreditation in this skill is emerging. It is assumed that nurses arecompetent in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but studies indicate aproblem of poor retention ofboth knowledge and skills in this area.A non-experimental, quantitative, descriptive and contextualresearch project was undertaken with the aim of exploring theknowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation of registered nursesworking in the wards of selected private hospitals in the WesternCape Peninsula.A convenience sample of thirty registered nurses completed amultiple-choice questionnaire. The questions in the questionnairewere derived from a literature review as well as the basic andadvanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation algorithms. Analysis ofthe data indicated that the level of knowledge of cardiopulmonaryresuscitation was inadequate particularly in the areas of medicationand the rationale underlying interventions.Recommendations that were made included proposals that cardiopulmonary resuscitation training programmes be revised;and that employers ensure that registered nursing ,staff are formallytrained on an annual basis.