J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2011 Aug;22(4):320-328.

Retention of Basic Life Support Skills Following Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training Based on American Heart Association Guidelines in Healthcare Professionals Working in a General Hospital

• Min MK
• Ryu JH
• Kim YI
• Park MR
• Lee SH
• Han SK

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.

Keyword

Basic Life Support (BLS); training; retention

MeSH Terms

American Heart Association
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
Delivery of Health Care
Health Personnel
Hospitals, General
Humans
Retention (Psychology)