Effect of Educational Program on Nurses' Skill Regarding Electrocardiogram Interpretation in Critical Care Units : A Quasi-Experimental Study

Background: Electrocardiograms non-invasively assess cardiac rhythm and electrical activity. It was the first heart disease diagnosis tool that helped reduce heart disease morbidity and death. ECGs are monitored and interpreted by nurses. The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of an educational program on nurses' skills regarding electrocardiogram interpretation among critical care nurses. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 68 nurses as a non-probability purposive sample working in critical care units at Azadi Teaching Hospital, Kirkuk City, Iraq. This study starts from 20th October 2023 to April 10, 2024. The study tool consists of two parts. Part I is concerned with nurses` socio-demographic characteristics, and Part II (the structured skill questionnaire) was developed by the researcher after reviewing the literature. For validity, the previous study restated topics and submitted them to 12 experts from various specialists. The education program was implemented with group teaching technique-based sessions, and hands-on training was provided. The collected data were analysed using SPSS version 26.0. Results: The results showed that most participants (73.5%) were aged between 24 and 28 years old and were female with 1-3 years of experience. Only 14.7% of participants had taken previous ECG training courses. Also, it showed that there is a high significant difference (Z = -7.153) at P