Preparedness for Life-Threatening Situations in a Pediatric Tertiary-Care University Children’s Hospital: A Survey
Pediatric nurses and physicians are rarely exposed to life-threatening events. Understanding the needs of clinicians is key for designing continuing training programs. A survey exploring preparedness to manage life-threatening events as well as training needs was mailed to all clinically active nurs...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Children |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/9/2/271 |
| _version_ | 1827656143015510016 |
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| author | Francis Ulmer Sabine Pallivathukal Andreas Bartenstein Ruth Bieri Daniela Studer Sebastiano A. G. Lava |
| author_facet | Francis Ulmer Sabine Pallivathukal Andreas Bartenstein Ruth Bieri Daniela Studer Sebastiano A. G. Lava |
| author_sort | Francis Ulmer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pediatric nurses and physicians are rarely exposed to life-threatening events. Understanding the needs of clinicians is key for designing continuing training programs. A survey exploring preparedness to manage life-threatening events as well as training needs was mailed to all clinically active nurses and physicians at a tertiary-level referral children’s hospital. Overall, 469 participants out of 871 answered the questionnaire (54% response rate). Respondents felt well or very well (nurses 93%, physicians 74%) prepared to recognize a deteriorating child and rated their theoretical understanding (70% well or very well prepared) of how to manage life-threatening situations significantly higher (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) than their cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) preparedness (52% well or very well prepared). Both perceived theoretical understanding (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) and CPR preparedness (<i>p</i> < 0.002) were rated higher among nurses than physicians. Arrhythmias, shock, cardiac arrest and airway management constitute main areas of perceived training need. In conclusion, although a majority of pediatric nurses and physicians felt sufficiently trained to recognize a deteriorating child, their perceived ability to actively manage life-threatening events was inferior to their theoretical understanding of how to resuscitate a child. A high degree of institutional confidence and identification of areas of training need provide a good foundation for customizing future continuing education programs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:17:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a854e8eea9704039ac7f1bcd7e620245 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:17:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj.art-a854e8eea9704039ac7f1bcd7e6202452023-11-23T19:20:17ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672022-02-019227110.3390/children9020271Preparedness for Life-Threatening Situations in a Pediatric Tertiary-Care University Children’s Hospital: A SurveyFrancis Ulmer0Sabine Pallivathukal1Andreas Bartenstein2Ruth Bieri3Daniela Studer4Sebastiano A. G. Lava5Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University Children Hospital of Berne, Inselspital, and University of Bern, 3010 Bern, SwitzerlandPaediatric Cardiology Unit, Center for Congenital Heart Disease, Department of Cardiology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, 3010 Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Paediatric Surgery, University Children Hospital of Bern, Inselspital, and University of Bern, 3010 Bern, SwitzerlandPaediatric Intensive Care Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University Children Hospital of Berne, Inselspital, and University of Bern, 3010 Bern, SwitzerlandPaediatric Intensive Care Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University Children Hospital of Berne, Inselspital, and University of Bern, 3010 Bern, SwitzerlandPaediatric Cardiology Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, SwitzerlandPediatric nurses and physicians are rarely exposed to life-threatening events. Understanding the needs of clinicians is key for designing continuing training programs. A survey exploring preparedness to manage life-threatening events as well as training needs was mailed to all clinically active nurses and physicians at a tertiary-level referral children’s hospital. Overall, 469 participants out of 871 answered the questionnaire (54% response rate). Respondents felt well or very well (nurses 93%, physicians 74%) prepared to recognize a deteriorating child and rated their theoretical understanding (70% well or very well prepared) of how to manage life-threatening situations significantly higher (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) than their cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) preparedness (52% well or very well prepared). Both perceived theoretical understanding (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) and CPR preparedness (<i>p</i> < 0.002) were rated higher among nurses than physicians. Arrhythmias, shock, cardiac arrest and airway management constitute main areas of perceived training need. In conclusion, although a majority of pediatric nurses and physicians felt sufficiently trained to recognize a deteriorating child, their perceived ability to actively manage life-threatening events was inferior to their theoretical understanding of how to resuscitate a child. A high degree of institutional confidence and identification of areas of training need provide a good foundation for customizing future continuing education programs.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/9/2/271cardiopulmonary resuscitationpreparednesstraining needsshockarrhythmiasairway |
| spellingShingle | Francis Ulmer Sabine Pallivathukal Andreas Bartenstein Ruth Bieri Daniela Studer Sebastiano A. G. Lava Preparedness for Life-Threatening Situations in a Pediatric Tertiary-Care University Children’s Hospital: A Survey Children cardiopulmonary resuscitation preparedness training needs shock arrhythmias airway |
| title | Preparedness for Life-Threatening Situations in a Pediatric Tertiary-Care University Children’s Hospital: A Survey |
| title_full | Preparedness for Life-Threatening Situations in a Pediatric Tertiary-Care University Children’s Hospital: A Survey |
| title_fullStr | Preparedness for Life-Threatening Situations in a Pediatric Tertiary-Care University Children’s Hospital: A Survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preparedness for Life-Threatening Situations in a Pediatric Tertiary-Care University Children’s Hospital: A Survey |
| title_short | Preparedness for Life-Threatening Situations in a Pediatric Tertiary-Care University Children’s Hospital: A Survey |
| title_sort | preparedness for life threatening situations in a pediatric tertiary care university children s hospital a survey |
| topic | cardiopulmonary resuscitation preparedness training needs shock arrhythmias airway |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/9/2/271 |
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