Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Among Nurses in Babcock University Teaching Hospital in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria

Background: Cardiac arrest is a substantial health problem estimated to account for 15-20% of all death. A timely performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can largely prevent sudden death as cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a critical component of basic life support. Hence, this study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of cardiopulmonary resuscitation among nurses in Babcock University Teaching Hospital in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. Method: The study adopted a descriptive design which enabled the researcher in finding answers to the set research questions. A set of 135 structured questionnaires were administered to the respondents, which were filled and returned. SPSS version 22.0 was used for the data analysis. Result: The results showed that whereas 74.9% of the respondents had good knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 65.2% of the respondents had practiced cardiopulmonary resuscitation on patients and 56.3% of the respondents had negative attitude towards it. Further analysis showed that knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation had significant influence on its practice. Conclusion and recommendation: Majority of Nurses have good knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation but only few of them had positive attitude towards its practice. Good knowledge influenced practice. The study showed that nurses have negative attitude towards CPR, it was recommended that the prevailing notion among nurses about cardiopulmonary resuscitation being a complex and time consuming process should be addressed through an intervention programme, to improve their attitude towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation.