Assessment of cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skills among healthcare providers at an urban tertiary referral hospital in Tanzania

Abstract

BackgroundEarly and effective CPR increases both survival rate and post-arrest quality of life. In limited resource countries like Tanzania, there is scarce data describing the basic knowledge of CPR among Healthcare providers (HCP). This study aimed to determine the current level of knowledge on, and ability to perform, CPR among HCP at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH).MethodsThis was a descriptive cross sectional study of a random sample of 350 HCP from all cadres and departments at MNH from October 2015 to March 2016. Each participant completed a with 25 question multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank CPR test and a practical test using a CPR manikin where the participant was videotaped for 1–2 min. Two expert observers independently viewed the videos and rated participant performance on a structured data form. The primary outcome of interest was staff member overall performance on the written and practical CPR testing.ResultsWe enrolled 350 HCPs from all 12 MNH clinical departments. The median participant age was 35 (IQR 29–43) years, 225 (64%) were female and 138 (39%) had clinical experience of less than 5 years. Only 57 (16%) and 88 (25%) scored above 50% in written and practical tests, respectively according to local minimum passing test score and 13(4%) and 30 (9%) scored above 75% in written and practical tests, respectively according to international minimum passing test score on CPR. The 233(67%) HCP who reported prior experience performing CPR on an adult patient scored higher on testing than those without; 40% (IQR 28–54) versus 26% (IQR 16–42) respectively, but both groups had median scores <50%.ConclusionThe level of CPR knowledge and skills displayed by all cadres and in all departments was poor despite the fact that most providers reported having performed CPR in the past. Since MNH is a tertiary referral hospital, it may reflect the performance of resuscitation status of other local health centers in Tanzania and other low-income countries to employ a formal system of training every HCP in CPR. Staff should be certified and assessed regularly to ensure retention of resuscitation knowledge and skills.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12913-018-3725-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Assessment of knowledge and skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation among health workers at Nakuru County Referral Hospital

“…The findings of this study is similar to a study conducted in Tanzania which revealed that there is poor knowledge and skills of CPR among the Health workers of all cadres. 13 The finding is also related to a study which showed that the poor knowledge among Health workers in Nepal is attributed to lack of CPR training before employment, and lack of exposure at the clinical area hence contributing to the deterioration of the knowledge. 15 The finding is however in contrast with a study in Ethiopia where about 93.3% of the respondents had good knowledge about CPR.…”

“…Respondents who answered correctly on 5 or more questions in Table 2 were categorized as having high knowledge of CPR while those who correctly answered 4 or less were classified as having low knowledge. 12,13 Table 3 shows that slightly above half 54.3% (n=88) had low knowledge on cardiopulmonary resuscitation.…”

Knowledge, Practice, and Associated Factors of Nurses in Pre-Hospital Emergency Care at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

“…This finding was supported by the study done in Tanzania. 43 The possible explanation might be due to the skill of an individual can improve the practice aspects of pre-hospital emergency care. 27 …”

“…This finding was supported by the study done in Tanzania. 43 The possible explanation might be due to the skill of an individual can improve the practice aspects of pre-hospital emergency care. 27 In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, variables like sex, marital status, educational level, experience, having training were found to have significantly associated with the practice of nurses in pre-hospital emergency nursing care.…”

A Cross Sectional Study on Knowledge and Practice Towards Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Among Health Professionals Working at Mekelle University, Mekelle Ethiopia.

“…The quality of CPR performed by rescuers depends on learners integrating, retaining and applying the cognitive, behavioral and psychomotor skills required to successfully perform resuscitation (2). Different literatures indicates that there is deficiency of cardiopulmonary resuscitation knowledge and skill across different groups of health care providers (5,(7)(8)(9). Even in developed countries like westerns, it is not uncommon to have different level of knowledge and skill in health care providers working in the same institutions (1).…”