Introduction: Nurse's competency in CPR performance is a critical element in patients' survival from cardiac arrest. Although medical education has recently emphasized on this issue, most researches identified that the CPR knowledge and skill retention were highly poor. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a short CPR re-educational course on the retention of CPR skill and knowledge among nursing students.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, a total of 48 final year nursing students of the Fatemeh College of Nursing & Midwifery at Shiraz University were participated in primary CPR training course. Then, they randomly divided into groups. Six months after the initial education, a 2-hour re-education course in CPR was presented for the first group (group 1). And one year after initial education, both groups (re-educated and non-re-educated) were evaluated in their CPR performance ba sed on performing CPR on mannequin and observational checklist that was made in accordance with the last revision of American Heart Association (AHA) standard CPR guideline. Data was statistically analyzed to compare two groups using t-test.
Findings: The results indicated that there was no significant difference between two groups CPR performance before and immediately after the initial education. (t=-1.7, p= 0/09); but we found statistically significant differences between them a year after the initial education (t=8.5, p= 0.00). It means that students who were attended in the short term re-education course six months after initial CPR education gained significantly higher scores in 5 skills including adequate safe approach; call for help; head tilt/chin lift maneuver; effective chest compression depth (4-5 cm); and also visible chest rising.
Conclusion: According to the results, the short and inexpensive courses of re-education that are efficient in CPR skill retention should take into consideration.