Capability of emergency nurses for electrocardiogram interpretation

•Electrocardiogram-interpretation capability of emergency nurses is fair.•Identifying and differentiating heart blocks can be challenging for emergency nurses.•Personal characteristics are associated with electrocardiogram-interpretation capability. Electrocardiogram is the first-line diagnostic imaging modality for evaluating patients with chest pain. The present study aimed to determine the capability of emergency nurses for electrocardiogram interpretation by using a more appropriate questioning method. This was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. A convenience sample of 96 emergency nurses was obtained from two emergency departments in Hong Kong. The electrocardiogram-interpretation capability of the emergency nurses was determined using a self-developed well-designed questionnaire comprising 10 questions on electrocardiogram interpretation. Each question carried one point, such that the maximum score was 10 points. The higher the score, the more capable was the emergency nurse at electrocardiogram interpretation. The mean score achieved by the participants was 7.7 ± 1.8. Only 12.5% of the participants were able to answer all questions correctly. A considerable proportion of the participants were unable to recognize first-degree heart block (74.0%), second-degree heart block type I (52.1%), or third-degree heart block (39.6%). Gender, electrocardiogram training, nursing experience, and emergency department experience had significant associations with mean score. The electrocardiogram-interpretation capability of the emergency nurses was fair. Better training should be implemented to help emergency nurses recognize potentially fatal heart blocks, enabling prompt and appropriate patient treatment.