Association between nurses’ perceived self-confidence in performing family witnessed resuscitation and implementation of the practice at Siaya County Referral Hospital in Kenya

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the relationship between nurses’ perceived self-confidence in performing family-witnessed resuscitation and the implementation of the practice among nurses and to describe nurses’ preferences regarding family-witnessed resuscitation practice. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional survey. A stratified random sampling design was used to obtain study participants from various units within the medical-surgical departments of the hospital. Data was collected using the Family Presence Self-confidence Scale designed by Twibel et al. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the association between levels of perceived self-confidence and the implementation of family-witnessed resuscitation practice. RESULTS: There was a significant association between nurses’ perceived self-confidence (χ(2) = 8.06, P = 0.01) and the implementation of family-witnessed resuscitation practice. The nurses who were quite/very confident were 4.9 times more likely to perform witnessed resuscitation than those who were somewhat confident (OR = 4.94, 95% CI 1.07–22.71) CONCLUSION: The perceived self-confidence in performing family-witnessed resuscitation varied widely among nurses. To achieve successful implementation of family-witnessed resuscitation practice, medical-surgical nurses should get higher levels of perceived self-confidence in the presence of patients’ families through advanced specialized training and practice on resuscitation.