Effect of Certified Adult Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training on Knowledge and Skills among Nursing Students in Selected Kenya Medical Training Colleges

Abstract

Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation is a lifesaving skill that nurses and other health workers should be proficient in. Prompt initiation of the procedure ultimately saves lives following cardiac arrest. It has been scientifically proved that survival rate following cardiac arrest deteriorates at 7%-10% every minute if cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedure is not initiated. Medical and nursing students are potential rescuers for inpatient cardiac arrest. However, they have been reported to have low knowledge and skill levels for effective and efficient resuscitation. The study aimed at assessing effect of certified cardio-pulmonary resuscitation training on knowledge and skills among senior nursing students in selected campuses of Kenya Medical Training College. A nonequivalent control group quasi experimental design was applied in the study with four campuses being sampled conveniently. A lottery simple random method was used to assign two campuses into experimental group and two into control group. Ethical approval was granted by Kenyatta University Ethics Review Committee (PKU/2166/E1310) and National Commission for Science, technology & Innovation (Ref No. 430422). All ethical principles were upheld throughout the study. The study was conducted in three phases. Pretest phase where baseline data was collected in the beginning of the semester in both groups. A theoretical and practical examination was administered. The second phase was the execution of certified cardio-pulmonary resuscitation training for a period of two months involving theory and practical sessions. In this phase the students in the experimental group who achieved the desired score of 84% were awarded with an American Heart Association certificate for Basic Life Support providers. The third phase was the posttest evaluation after six months where both groups were subjected to a theoretical and practical examination. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. Measures of frequency, central tendency, and dispersion were used for descriptive statistics. T-test, Mann Whitney and Wilcoxon rank test were used for inferential statistics based on data distribution. On baseline cardio-pulmonary resuscitation knowledge, the intervention group had a mean score of 41.80 ±8.7 and the control group had a mean score of 41.86±7.9. On baseline cardio-pulmonary resuscitation skills, the intervention group had a mean score of 29.2% ±14.8 while the control group had a mean of 24.65±12.7. Perception that cardio-pulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skill were complex, minimal skills laboratory guidance, and lack of confidence in performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation was found to have an influence the cardio-pulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skills. There was a significant statistical difference in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation knowledge of large effect size (Z = -10.9, p<0.0001, d= 0.85) between the performance of the intervention and the control groups at posttest. The intervention group also had significant statistical difference in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation skills of large effect size (Z=-7.826, p=<0.0001, d=0.8. The training intervention was effective in enhancing the learner’s knowledge and skills on cardiopulmonary resuscitation. There is need for certified refresher cardio-pulmonary resuscitation trainings for nursing students to facilitate acquisition and retention of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skills.