Nurses’ Competency on Electrocardiography Interpretation in Adult Emergency Room: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2021. Multicenter Cross-sectional Study

Abstract Background: Electrocardiography is a graphic representation of the electrical activity of the heart. According to previous literature, nurses have poor knowledge and skills about basic electrocardiography interpretation. For instance, a previous survey conducted in Turkey showed that only 38.1 percent of nurses were able to recognize ventricular fibrillation, 54.3% myocardial infarction, and 33.3% third-degree atrioventricular block. Objective: This study was aimed at assessing Nurses’ competency in electrocardiography interpretation in adult emergency rooms in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2021. Method: An institutional-based descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used to conduct the study. A total of 175 nurses in five randomly selected hospitals with adult emergency rooms were included in this study. Semi-structured, self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data. Data were entered into Epi data and analyzed using SPSS version 26. A Fisher’s exact test was used to identify the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Results: Of 203 respondents, 175 actively participated, for a response rate of 86.2%. From those 175 nurses, 159 (90.9%) were not competent (scored < 65%), and the mean score was 6.82 ± 3.65 SD. Conclusion: The overall level of competency of nurses in electrocardiography interpretation is low. This implies most nurses in the emergency room do not monitor and manage a patient's electrocardiography for manifestations of arrhythmias, electrolyte disturbance and other cardiac abnormalities. Level of education and training were a determinant factor to enhance their competency.