Cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: A survey of Western Australian hospitals

Objective: To determine if cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) policy and practice in Western Australian (WA) hospitals changed since the release of an operational directive from the WA Department of Health. Design: Cross sectional postal survey conducted in 2008 compared to the results of the 2001...

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Main Authors: Rogal, S., Finn, Judith, Jacobs, Ian
Format: Journal Article
Published: Australian Nursing Federation 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ajan.com.au/ajan_27.1.html
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21667
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author Rogal, S.
Finn, Judith
Jacobs, Ian
author_facet Rogal, S.
Finn, Judith
Jacobs, Ian
author_sort Rogal, S.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Objective: To determine if cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) policy and practice in Western Australian (WA) hospitals changed since the release of an operational directive from the WA Department of Health. Design: Cross sectional postal survey conducted in 2008 compared to the results of the 2001 survey. Setting: Western Australian public hospitals containing ten or more beds. Subjects: 66 WA hospitals in 2001; 59 WA hospitals in 2008. Main outcome measures: Characteristics of defibrillators; CPR and defibrillation training and assessment; who was permitted to undertake defibrillation; type of cardiac arrest management team, whether data was routinely collected on cardiac arrests and outcomes and any other issues related to resuscitation policy and practice. Results: There was a 15% increase in the number of hospitals with AEDs (15% difference; 95% CI 10%, 29%; p=0.04) and an increase in proportion of hospitals that allowed nurses to defibrillate from 74% to 98% (24% difference; 95% CI 14%, 34%; p<0.001). There was an increase in the uptake of ARC guidelines (15% difference; 95% CI 5%, 25%; p<0.01). Conclusions: Since the release of the operational directive following the 2001 survey more hospitals have purchased AEDs and there has been an increase in the proportion of hospitals 'allowing' nurses to defibrillate. However, given the overwhelming evidence that time to defibrillation is the major determinant of likelihood of survival in cardiac arrest, it is indefensible that that not all hospitals can provide first responder defibrillation 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-216672017-01-30T12:26:38Z Cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: A survey of Western Australian hospitals Rogal, S. Finn, Judith Jacobs, Ian cardiac arrest nurse cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) survey advisory external defibrillation (AED) Objective: To determine if cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) policy and practice in Western Australian (WA) hospitals changed since the release of an operational directive from the WA Department of Health. Design: Cross sectional postal survey conducted in 2008 compared to the results of the 2001 survey. Setting: Western Australian public hospitals containing ten or more beds. Subjects: 66 WA hospitals in 2001; 59 WA hospitals in 2008. Main outcome measures: Characteristics of defibrillators; CPR and defibrillation training and assessment; who was permitted to undertake defibrillation; type of cardiac arrest management team, whether data was routinely collected on cardiac arrests and outcomes and any other issues related to resuscitation policy and practice. Results: There was a 15% increase in the number of hospitals with AEDs (15% difference; 95% CI 10%, 29%; p=0.04) and an increase in proportion of hospitals that allowed nurses to defibrillate from 74% to 98% (24% difference; 95% CI 14%, 34%; p<0.001). There was an increase in the uptake of ARC guidelines (15% difference; 95% CI 5%, 25%; p<0.01). Conclusions: Since the release of the operational directive following the 2001 survey more hospitals have purchased AEDs and there has been an increase in the proportion of hospitals 'allowing' nurses to defibrillate. However, given the overwhelming evidence that time to defibrillation is the major determinant of likelihood of survival in cardiac arrest, it is indefensible that that not all hospitals can provide first responder defibrillation 24 hours per day, seven days per week. 2009 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21667 http://www.ajan.com.au/ajan_27.1.html Australian Nursing Federation restricted
spellingShingle cardiac arrest
nurse
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
survey
advisory external defibrillation (AED)
Rogal, S.
Finn, Judith
Jacobs, Ian
Cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: A survey of Western Australian hospitals
title Cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: A survey of Western Australian hospitals
title_full Cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: A survey of Western Australian hospitals
title_fullStr Cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: A survey of Western Australian hospitals
title_full_unstemmed Cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: A survey of Western Australian hospitals
title_short Cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: A survey of Western Australian hospitals
title_sort cardiac arrest resuscitation policy and practice: a survey of western australian hospitals
topic cardiac arrest
nurse
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
survey
advisory external defibrillation (AED)
url http://www.ajan.com.au/ajan_27.1.html
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21667