Nursing training and retraining on cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a theoretical-practical intervention*

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the retention of knowledge and skills of nursing professionals following training and retraining on cardiopulmonary resuscitation. METHOD: This is an intervention, prospective, and analytical study in which 56 nursing professionals received theoretical and practical training in in-service cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Nine months after the first training (T1), these professionals participated in a retraining (T2). They were followed up for 18 months. The linear trend of knowledge and skills in the period following training was calculated and the Wilcoxon test was applied. RESULTS: Interventions increased the knowledge and skills of professionals significantly; however, in the subsequent period, skills decreased. Despite this, after a period of nine months, they were still higher than those identified before the study. There was a reduction of 18.2% in knowledge in the theoretical test after T1 vs 13.0% after T2 (p < 0.01) and a reduction of 7.6% in skills on the practical test after T1 vs 5.3% after T2 (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Nurses were able to retain more knowledge and skills on cardiopulmonary resuscitation after retraining, which stresses the importance of regular training and continuing education in health.