Cross-sectional study on health professionals’ perception of effectiveness in conducting cardiopulmonary resuscitation on adults

Introduction: Cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death. Attitudes and practices of healthcare professionals influence survival after cardiac arrest, especially in intensive care units. Maintaining skills and attitudes after cardiopulmonary resuscitation training requires systematic refresh with appropriate methodology. The aim is to evaluate healthcare professionals' perception of the effectiveness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in adults in order to optimize the design of training initiatives focused on addressing identified critical aspects.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 655 healthcare professionals and technicians who participated in Basic Life Support and Defibrillation (BLS-d) training course between 2020 and the end of 2022. A questionnaire consisting of 65 variables was administered.

Results: 132 professionals answered. The most critical areas identified are the exclusive role of healthcare professionals in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the presence of family, confidence in practice, ethical-legal aspects, and teamwork.

Conclusions: The BLS-d course is not able to address parallel aspects such as teamwork, ethical-legal aspects, preconceptions, and issues of self-confidence, which require alternative opportunities and experiences to be defined. The next step of this work will involve the entire team of BLS-d instructors to identify strategies for integrating content.