Knowledge and Performance Ability of Defibrillator among General Hospital Nurses

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses' knowledge and performance ability of Defibrillator.Methods: The participants in this study were 121 nurses who have been working in a general hospital located in G region. The measuring tools of this study were developed on the basis of guidelines from American Heart Association and Korea Association of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. The knowledge of defibrillator was measured by self-report questionnaire, and the performance ability of defibrillator was measured by observation of the participants. The period of collected date was from May 15 to June 15 in 2016. The collected data were analyzed by using SPSS 19.0 program.Results: The mean score about knowledge of defibrillator was 2.79±2.42. The mean score about performing ability of defibrillation was 6.44±3.39. The knowledge of defibrillator was a significant difference with age, working area, working carrier, experience of using defibrillator. The performance ability of defibrillator was a significant difference with age, working area, working carrier, experience of using defibrillator. There was a significant positive correlation between knowledge and performance ability of defibrillator.Conclusions: The finding suggests developing the knowledge and the performance ability of defibrillator on going refresher courses and training programs, including the related nursing practice guidelines to improve the knowledge and performance ability of defibrillator.