• Sandro Gonçalves de Lima, Larissa Araripe de Macedo, Marcela de Lima Vidal, and Michel Pompeu Barros de Oliveira Sá.
• Real Hospital Português, Recife, PE, Brasil. sandrolima@cardiol.br
• Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2009 Dec 1;93(6):582-8, 630-6.

BackgroundThe theoretical knowledge and practical skills of the Basic Life Support (BLS) and the Advanced Life Support (ALS) are among the most important determining factors of the cardiopulmonary reanimation success rates.ObjectiveAssess the impact of a permanent training program in BLS and ALS on the knowledge of nursing professionals.MethodCross-sectional study. Population was made of nursing professionals of a tertiary level hospital. Assessments were carried out before and after training. The critical points of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) analysis were addressed.Results213 professionals were assessed (76 nurses, 35.7%; 38 assistants, 17.8%; and 99 technicians, 46.7%). Pre-course assessment average grades were statistically different (p<0.001) among assistants (3.25), technicians (3.96) and nurses (4.69). Single professional without kids showed performance significantly superior to married professional with kids (p=0.02 and 0.004 respectively). Pre-training level of knowledge was inversely proportional to the time elapsed since the completion of undergraduate course or technical course. Main deficiencies were related to the initial approach of airways, to post-resuscitation cares and to the external cardiac massage technique. The post-course general average grade was 7.26. Assistants achieved a performance of 131.2%, technicians, of 78.9% and the nurses, of 85%, with no significant statistic difference (p=0.43).ConclusionThe permanent training program in BLS and ALS resulted in important increment in the level of knowledge of nursing professionals.

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