title: Knowledge gained by pediatric residents after neonatal resuscitation program courses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The efficacy of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) courses was previously evaluated, demonstrating good retention of knowledge in the participants. However, there is a lack of information regarding the participants' performance in relation to the different steps of neonatal resuscitation. We aimed to assess the knowledge gained and retained by pediatric residents who participated in a NRP course in relation to the different steps.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 80-item questionnaire derived from the standard test contained in the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics Neonatal Resuscitation Manual was given to 25 pediatric residents before, immediately after and 6 months after the course.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percentages of correct answers significantly improved from before (37.6 +/- 3.1%) to immediately after the course (94.1 +/- 0.9%) (P < 0.001). The percentages at the 6 months follow-up test (62.7 +/- 2.2%) significantly decreased from posttest (P < 0.001), but remained significantly higher with respect to pretest performance (P < 0.001). The percentages of correct answers were different among the four neonatal resuscitation steps during the entire study (pretest, posttest and follow-up test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The knowledge gained by pediatric residents participating in the NRP course was very high, but was only partially retained over time. In particular, it was different among the four steps of neonatal resuscitation suggesting further studies on teaching resuscitation.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Medical School, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. trevo@pediatria.unipd.it
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trevisanuto
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferrarese
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cavicchioli
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fasson
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zanardo
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zacchello
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007396:Internship and Residency; D010372:Pediatrics; D012151:Resuscitation / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires