AbstractsMedical & Health Science

Pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrests are rare. Pediatric code teams require specific training and practice to improve and maintain skills. Many pediatric code team nurses lack confidence and resuscitation skills. Lack of skill and confidence produce negative outcomes in resuscitation. The purpose of this research project was to evaluate if training and simulation would improve the confidence and skill levels of pediatric nurses during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Through pediatric resuscitation skill training and simulation the nurses’ resuscitation skills as well as confidence levels pertaining to resuscitation improved. There is little evidence in the literature that in-situ simulation provides an enhanced simulation experience for pediatric nurse participants. This project compared nurses’ resuscitation skill levels acquired during in-situ simulation training with the skill levels acquired during laboratory simulation. There was no significant difference between the two simulation experiences in terms of skill acquisition. The nurses preferred the in-situ experience, but in-situ simulation did not enhance the nurses’ skills or confidence in pediatric resuscitation. 95 p. 22 cm.