Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part A (2024)

Background: In inpatient facilities, nurses are at the bedside round the clock and are likely to be the first to respond and manage the initial treatment during an emergency. The successful management of cardiopulmonary crisis rotates around the perfect utilization of the golden hour, in order that the patient has the better possible survival advantage. This can be achieved when the right supplies and equipment are easily accessible to treat a patient quickly. The Directorate of Khoula Hospital implemented a project using the PDSA (Plan Do Study Act) cycle to enhance response time in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) management by taking measures to standardize the crash carts and increase the competency of Staff Nurses in its utilization.
Methods: The project started off with a survey to find out the number of Crash Carts and type/models of defibrillators available in various clinical areas of Khoula Hospital. Standardization of the Crash Cart content was established in collaboration with the Department of Pharmacy and Anaesthesia. Then a pretest questionnaire on the Crash Cart contents was prepared, reading material on the same was formulated and hard copy distributed to all nursing staff. Then various training sessions by the facilitators were conducted. Finally, the staff competency was assessed through structured audit. 
Results: The Pre- test questionnaire was used to assess competency by randomly selecting 40% staff nurses (396) working in various areas of Khoula Hospital. The pretest score was 24 percent. After the distribution of reading material and training, a post- test, as audit was conducted to assess the competency. The competency of Staff Nurses showed a good improvement as the post- test score was 76%.
Conclusion: The implementation of this project improved the system of Crash Cart checking, restocking of Crash Cart contents and enhanced the staff nurse’s competency and accountability in effective utilization of these contents. Moreover, it helped to identify the deficiencies in the Crash Cart and the areas for improvement in the competency among staff nurses.