Abstract Sat502: Exploring Nurse Emergency Responder Confidence with Advanced Resuscitation Training

Abstract

Training for nurse emergency responders (NER) vary nationally. Many NER do not receive training outside of basic or advanced life support certifications. At a Level 1 Academic Trauma Center (L1ATC), environmental scanning and mock emergency assessments by the Resuscitation Institute (RI) team (comprised expert nurses that evaluate/educate on resuscitation care) identified a gap in confidence among NER. NER included the Medical Emergency Response Intervention Team (MERIT), house managers, and critical care NER. This lack of confidence translated to poor documentation and inability to correct team actions.Would a medical emergency responder advanced training class impact NER confidence? The RI reviewed mock code assessments and resuscitation data at a L1ATC. Findings indicated NERs lacked the confidence to intervene effectively in resuscitation events. The goal of the RI was to improve NER confidence through advanced, facility-specific training. The RI developed an advanced educational class for NERs that focused on facility specific processes and measured NER confidence using a pre/post-survey design. Topics included: response policies/procedures, regulatory requirements, American Heart Association (AHA) Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation® data, specialty events (e.g. cath lab, maternal arrest), high quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation, AHA algorithms, defibrillator use, resources, documentation, simulation and debriefing. A modified Grundy Confidence Scale (C-Scale) was used to self-report confidence in ability to lead a resuscitation event in accordance with AHA guidelines. An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare C-scale scores across pre-( n = 29) and post-( n = 28) tests. There was a significant difference in scores for pre-test ( M = 20.45, SD = 2.28) and post-test ( M = 22.32, SD = 2.61; t (55) = -2.89, p = .006, two-tailed). The differences in means (mean difference = -1.87, 95% CI [-3.17, -.57]) was small (eta squared = 0.131). Plans are to continue gathering and analyzing survey data to determine sustainability and feasibility of the class. Based off the C-Scale data and feedback, leaders have requested to host the class for additional facilities within the system. Modification of course contents based on individual facility needs will be taken into consideration, steps include inclusion of interdisciplinary responders, and a qualitative exploration related to participant’s perception of their experiences with the class.