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.
Highlights
The Brazilian Ministry of Health (MH) established the National Policy on Emergency Care in 2002
Data were collected through a questionnaire divided into parts: the first characterized the nurses and the second part addressed the knowledge of nurses concerning Cardiopulmonary Arrest (CPA) and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
Data from this study suggest that the longer the time since graduation the lower one’s theoretical knowledge concerning compression to ventilation ratio and electrical load used in defibrillation, which justifies the need for professionals to update their knowledge to keep track with periodic changes triggered by advances in research in the field
Summary
The Brazilian Ministry of Health (MH) established the National Policy on Emergency Care in 2002 Since demand for this service has risen in recent years in Brazil given increased violence and a larger number of accidents, the supply of urgent and emergency services has become insufficient[1]. For health professionals to provide safe care and ensure the survival of patients, they need to be prepared and have knowledge concerning resuscitation techniques. Given these requirements, we examine what the theoretical knowledge of nurses working in N-HUECU concerning this topic is
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
