• Kathy Delac, Diane Blazier, Laura Daniel, and Donamarie N-Wilfong.
• Department of Professional Practice, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15212, USA. kdelac@wpahs.org
• Crit Care Nurs Q. 2013 Apr 1; 36 (2): 244-50.

PurposeThis article reviews the institution of mock code simulation training to improve registered nurses responder performance at a trauma 1 teaching hospital.MethodAn in-situ mock code is held on random medical-surgical/telemetry units every month. Participants are asked to respond to 2 different scenarios using a 3-G Sim Man and the unit's emergency equipment. Each session is followed by debriefing, postsurveys, and evaluation. The time to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation is recorded for analysis. The participant's level of confidence is measured before and after simulation.ResultsMore than 250 nurses have participated in the Five Alive course since its initiation in March 2011. The participants have expressed more confidence in recognizing a declining patient health status after the simulation. They have also demonstrated a marked improvement in time to CPR and defibrillation.ConclusionsInitial findings reveal that in-situ medical emergency team/code simulation followed by debriefing improved the performance of responders. We are currently offering the Five Alive program monthly during four 1-hour sessions and have found this program to be an effective training tool. There is one challenge to offering the program on the off shift and weekends. That is finding a time that is not too disruptive to patient care.

11 keywords...

hide…