Nurse-initiated defibrillation? Reality or rhetoric

Evidence indicates that hospital nurse‐initiated defibrillation improves survival following cardiac arrest. Accordingly, hospitals are changing their policies to permit nurses to initiate defibrillation. However, if nurse‐initiated defibrillation is to be successful implemented, nurses’ beliefs abou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing in critical care 2007-11, Vol.12 (6), p.270-277
Main Authors: Dwyer, Trudy, Williams, Leonie M, Mummery, Kerry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advanced Life Support
Attitude of Health Personnel
Australia
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Defibrillation
Education, Nursing
Electric Countershock - nursing
Female
Hospitals, Rural
Humans
Male
Multivariate Analysis
Nurse's Role
Nurse-initiated
Nursing
Organizational Policy
Resuscitation
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Summary:Evidence indicates that hospital nurse‐initiated defibrillation improves survival following cardiac arrest. Accordingly, hospitals are changing their policies to permit nurses to initiate defibrillation. However, if nurse‐initiated defibrillation is to be successful implemented, nurses’ beliefs about this practice need to be understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of rural nurses towards defibrillation to assist in the development of nurse‐initiated defibrillation programmes. This cross‐sectional study examined the defibrillation beliefs of registered nurses in rural areas. A proportionally stratified sample of registered nurses (n = 436) were drawn from 51 rural acute care hospitals in Australia. Most (n = 224; 52%) of the participants were not permitted to initiate defibrillation. A one‐way between‐groups multivariate analysis of variance showed that nurses who were permitted to initiate defibrillation held stronger positive beliefs towards defibrillation than nurses not permitted (10 410) = 13·88, p 
ISSN:1362-1017
1478-5153
DOI:10.1111/j.1478-5153.2007.00236.x