Exploring nurses' experiences of performing basic life support in hospital wards: An inductive thematic analysis

Aim: The aim of this study was to undertake an in-depth exploration of the lived experiences of in -hospital, nonintensive care, ward-based nurses' experiences of real-life CPR events. Background: There is growing evidence suggesting that may nurses not be able to successfully perform in a cardiac arrest situation. Reasons include a lack of clear leadership at the arrest, performance anxiety, role confusion and knowledge and skill degradation over time. Methods: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen ward-based hospital nurses from three hospitals. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and inductive thematic analysis was completed using NVivo 12 software. Findings: Four main themes emerged from data. The main themes are: (1) Not Being able to Perform When it Matters, (2) Working Really Well as a Team, (3) Reflecting on the Experience: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly and (4) Learning to get it Right for Next Time Conclusion: Performing BLS is a stressful and anxiety-provoking experience for ward-based nurses. Anxiety levels appear to decrease slightly only when nurses have had at least one previous real-life experience with resuscitation. Current BLS education does not prepare nurses for the complexities of resuscitation. Future BLS education should focus on in-depth scenarios, including interdisciplinary team training and with greater frequency than the current yearly mandatory sessions. Listening to the lived experiences of nurses who have performed BLS has given much needed insight into approaches that educators can use to improve BLS education delivery.