Barriers to the success of cardiopulmonary resuscitation teams from the perspective of nurses

Background and objectives: Despite the long history of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), there are still major concerns about poor CPR team performance in hospitals. While only 10-15 percent of those undergoing CPR leave the hospitals alive, the statistics vary in different countries. Since addressing the barriers to successful CPR may help prevent the potential risks to future patients, the present study aimed to identify such barriers from the perspective of nurses.Methods: In a descriptive-analytic study in 2011, 200 nurses, including 68 men (34 percent) and 132 women (66 percent), employed at four teaching hospitals affiliated to Golestan University of Medical Sciences (Iran) were randomly selected. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire. Descriptive (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics were applied for data analysis. All analyses were performed with SPSS version 16 .Results: The majority of nurses (83 percent) had an experience of working with a CPR team. The participating nurses suggested absence of timely clinical CPR (98 percent), lack of regular standard in-service training (98 percent), lack of CPR equipment and supplies in the wards (92 percent), lack of efficient communication among team members (90 percent), and underlying diseases of the patients (88 percent) as the most important barriers to successful CPR. Conclusion: Considering the poor performance of CPR teams in hospitals, management of this challenge requires more attention of planners and hospital authorities. Holding standard retraining programs to update the staff’s knowledge and improve their skills would be essential to forming a competent and cohesive CPR team