Evaluation of the performance of health care providers of the Basic Life Support Course

Abstract

Objectives: To verify participants’ knowledge on cardiopulmonaryresuscitation before and after completing the Basic Life SupportCourse for Health Care Providers. Methods: In this study, a descriptive,exploratory, retrospective, level I research project was conducted.The population comprised 232 participants and 464 questionnairescompleted by physicians, nurses, nursing technicians, and licensedpractical nurses. Results: The average percentage of correct answersin the pre-test was 71.39% (36 questions) and in the post-test it was91.18% (25 questions), demonstrating that students obtained animprovement of 19.79% after the course. Even with the increase innumber of correct answers after the course, students still showedinsufficient knowledge of the topics “Compression location inperforming CPR” and “Drowning victim with loss of consciousness”.Conclusion: These topics should be covered with greater emphasis inthe courses, since the participants had difficulty in recognizing signsand symptoms of cardiovascular diseases, hindering early access toemergency care.

Keywords

• Basic life support
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• Assessment of human resources in health care