KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF NURSES ON MEDICAL WARDS TO DEFIBRILLATION

We questioned 112 qualified nurses working on general medical wards ab out their resuscitation experience and knowledge of ECG interpretation and defibrillation. Although all but two of them had been formally tr ained in basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) only 16 had receive d any training in the last six months. Seventy-five per cent of nurses were involved in CPR as first responders but only 18% had used a defi brillator during a cardiac arrest. Identification of ECG rhythms and p ractical knowledge about defibrillation was encouraging despite the la ck of formal training in this field. Almost every one of the nurses wo uld be willing to receive training in advanced cardiac life support. T he responses to this inquiry suggest that nurses on medical wards are enthusiastic about advanced cardiac life support and already have some basic practical knowledge. Appropriate training (and retraining) of n ursing staff should improve the outcome of resuscitation efforts on me dical wards.