Nurses’ Attitudes Toward Basic Life Support: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study from Palestine (West Bank)

Abstract

Aim: To examine the attitudes of nurses in Palestine (West Bank) toward basic life support (BLS). Method: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in this study, and self-administered questionnaires were distributed among nurses for the purpose of assessing their attitudes toward BLS. The attitude scale consisted of 3-point Likert scale with 15 items, and the answers were (1 = disagree, 2 = Neutral, and 3 = Agree). Results: Over half of the participants were male (54.6%, n = 59), and the majority had a bachelor’s degree in nursing (75%, n = 85). The majority of participants’ age group was 20-29 years old (76.9%, n = 83). More than half of nurses (67.6%, n = 73) had 1-5 years of experience in nursing. The results of this study revealed that participants mean score on attitudes toward BLS was (M = 2.55, SD =.256) out of 3. Most nurses had positive attitude (>75%) toward BLS with (62%, n= 67). However, the majority of participants said that prognosis of resuscitated patient is poor (M = 2.19, SD = .712), and they cannot perform CPR on their own (M = 2.32, SD = .795). The results showed no statistically significant difference between attitudes total score of nurses and their socio-demographics, except if they had previous exposure and deal with cardiac arrest (t = 2.071, p = .041) and if they had BLS guidelines in their units (t = 2.901, p = .005). Knowing that nurses who had previous exposure and deal with cardiac arrest and who reported the presence of guidelines in their units, have more mean positive attitudes. Conclusions: In general, attitudes toward BLS among nurses were positive. However, efforts to improve nursing attitudes regarding the perception of the poor prognosis of CPR and performing CPR on their own should be highlighted and it is crucial to booster their attitudes into more positive readings. This may will have a beneficial impact of their knowledge and practice of CPR that may eventually improve cardiac arrest victims’ outcome. Future research to assess nurses’ knowledge and practice of BLS, and the effect of positive attitudes on patients’ outcomes is recommended.