Hospitals Prepare to Launch New Resuscitation Program

Catherine Day, BSN, RN; practices CPR skills as Kailin Lancour, MSN, RN; Cathy Chivas, MSN, RN; and Kimberly Flynn, BSN, RN, look on.

Providers at Mercy Medical Center, Johnson Memorial Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital, and Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital have begun training with the Resuscitation Quality Improvement® (RQI)® program in advance of implementation in January. The program, co-developed by the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical, is designed to help hospitals achieve sustained mastery of high-quality CPR skills and competence, resulting in improved patient outcomes.

With more than 209,000 in-hospital cardiac arrests occurring annually in the U.S. with adult survival rates at about 26%, it is vital that patients who suffer a cardiac arrest receive the highest quality CPR possible. Historically, the CPR training standard for healthcare providers has been Basic Life Support with a requirement for participants to renew their certification every two years. However, studies show the proficiency in CPR skills can decline within three to six months following this training.

The American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical called for a new standard of care in 2018 by shifting resuscitation practice from course training once every two years to verified CPR competence for health care professionals. RQI provides a high-reliability platform for self-directed, simulation-based mastery learning and performance, which is implemented through “low-dose, high-frequency” hands-on CPR quality improvement sessions, in 10 minutes every 90 days, that measure and verify competence each time. The program also provides analytics that measure individual, department, facility, and system compliance.

Through more frequent exposure to CPR simulation scenarios, Mercy, Johnson, Saint Francis, and Mount Sinai are committed to improving patient outcomes and decreasing preventable deaths from cardiac arrests both in the hospitals and the local community.

For more information about RQI training at Mercy or Johnson, contact Melissa Kline, MSN, RN, Manager, Nursing Professional Practice and Education, at melissa.kline@trinityhealthofne.org. At Saint Francis or Mount Sinai, contact Dawn Litvinchyk, Nursing Education Coordinator, at dlitvinc@trinityhealthofne.org.