Nurse's Role in the Modern Resuscitation Era

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a medical practice for all cardiac arrests except where a “do not resuscitate” (DNR) order has been given for a particular patient. Nurses are generally the first responders to a cardiac arrest and initiate basic life support while waiting for the advanced cardiac life support team to arrive. Throughout the years, as CPR guidelines are altered, the roles of the multidisciplinary team members are also subjective to change. Factors such as improvement in nursing education, increased needs for expert nurses due to the requirements of specialized fields of medicine, and an increase noted in the autonomy of the nursing role have led to a change in nurses’ responsibilities during CPR. Some of these new roles include: the rapid response nurse, the initiation of external defibrillation, the involvement in CPR decision making, the understanding of the use of resuscitation drugs and the family support in the cases of witnessed resuscitation. Although changes have not been made in all health care settings, many hospitals are attempting to implement new strategies by giving to the nurses increased responsibilities and making them a more active member of the multidisciplinary CPR team