Effect of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Education Based on Team Debriefing on Knowledge and Practice of Staff Nurses: A One-Group Before-after Study

Background: Nurses are the first to attend at the bedside when the patient involves in cardiopulmonary arrest and able to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as long as the CPR team arrives and conduct advanced interventions. Low level of nurses’ cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skills and priorities is frequently reported in the studies. Regarding the challenge of the knowledge retention on the CPR, the method of education in this area requires more attention. Aim and objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of CPR education based on team debriefing on knowledge and practice of staff nurses. Study design: This was a one-group before-after study. Setting: This study was carried out at three social security hospitals located in Tehran Province, Iran. Materials and methods: 50 staff nurses of the CPR teams were recruited to the study by convenience sampling method from Feb-Aug 2017. The intervention was implemented in the form of debriefing sessions (at least three sessions for each participant). Prior to intervention and one week after the last session of the intervention, the knowledge of the participants was measured and their performance was evaluated. A 30-item knowledge questionnaire on principles of basic and advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and a checklist to evaluate cardiopulmonary resuscitation practice of staff nurses were used to collect the data. Statistics: Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using descriptive statistics and statistical test. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean score of knowledge after intervention was significantly higher than the mean score before intervention (25.98±4.05; 95% CI 24.83 to 27.13 against 23.54±4.90; 95% CI 22.15 to 24.93) (P≤ 0.0001). The mean score of performance after intervention was significantly higher than the mean score before intervention (22.93±2.66; 95% CI 22.17 to 23.69 against 19.75±4.12; 95% CI 18.58 to 20.92.13) (P≤ 0.0001). The mean change score of knowledge was 2.44±3.24 (95% CI 1.52 to 3.36), with a large effect size d=0.75. Also, the mean change score of performance was 3.18±2.58 (95% CI 2.37 to 3.99), with a large effect size d=1.11. Conclusion: CPR education based on team debriefing delivered significant improvements in knowledge and practice of staff nurses.