• Dongchoon Uhm and Gyehyun Jung.
• J Emerg Nurs. 2021 Mar 1; 47 (2): 305-312.

IntroductionNurses are often first responders to in-hospital cardiac arrests. However, many nurses do not perform defibrillation even when required. Nurses' attitudes toward defibrillator use are influenced by social and psychological context. This descriptive, cross-sectional study explored factors affecting attitudes toward defibrillator use among nurses in South Korea.MethodsA total of 280 nurses with a minimum of 6 months' clinical experience were included. The data were acquired through a self-administered questionnaire. Regression analysis was used to determine factors significantly associated with attitudes toward defibrillator use.ResultsOnly 13.6% of the participating nurses had experience with defibrillator use in a cardiopulmonary resuscitation situation, whereas 94.6% of the nurses had received training on defibrillator use. Attitudes toward defibrillator use accounted for 37% of variance in measures of self-confidence, image, and job fit.DiscussionTo improve clinical nurses' attitudes toward defibrillator use, improving their self-confidence, image, and job fit through ongoing assessment and retraining on defibrillation is required. In addition, relevant institutional support and systematic guidelines should be provided.Copyright © 2020 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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