RETENTION OF BASIC LIFE SUPPORT KNOWLEDGE AMONG NURSING STUDENTS: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

Abstract

Background: Cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death (SCD) can occur in anywhere in adults, pediatric and infants. Nursing students who have undergone basic life support (BLS) learning, need to be evaluated whether they retain the knowledge acquired after the learning process. Objective: This study aims to investigate BLS knowledge retention after following of a BLS course and practice. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed in this study. Data were collected from nursing students at one of the largest universities in Indonesia. Demographic data, academic-related data, and BLS knowledge were gathered. BLS knowledge was measured using 15 items according to the latest American Heart Association. Higher scores indicate higher BLS knowledge. The data were analyzed using both univariate and bivariate analyses. The bivariate analysis conducted using t-test and ANOVA. Results: A total of 83.3% of respondents exhibited low BLS knowledge scores, with a mean score of 9.08 (SD = 1.54). Students with a science major in high school had higher scores of BLS knowledge (F = 3.16, p < .05). Most students failed to answer questions related to emergency responses correctly. Conclusion: Despite completing both theoretical and practical BLS learning, nursing students demonstrated poor retention of BLS knowledge.

Keywords

• basic life support (BLS);
• knowledge retention
• nursing student

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