title: Confidence vs competence: basic life support skills of health professionals.
abstract: The provision of prompt effective resuscitation is fundamental in ensuring successful outcomes following cardiac arrest but historically nurses and doctors have lacked competence in performing basic life support (BLS), despite being confident in their abilities. The object of this study was to assess BLS confidence as assessed against competence of doctors' in-training, qualified nurses and healthcare assistants (HCAs) following the development of structured resuscitation training. This study has highlighted that the introduction of a structured resuscitation training programme has resulted in a noticeable improvement in BLS skills, particularly with regard to doctors. Registered nurses have improved with regular training compared with previously published data but HCAs tend to perform poorly and are under-confident. There remains a mismatch between confidence and competence, with only doctors demonstrating both confidence and competency and therefore changes to training programmes may be required to address this mismatch.
authors.affiliation: Frimley Park Foundation Trust, Camberley, and Durban Institute of Technology, RSA.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Castle
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Garton
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kenward
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal; D004739:England; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000592:standards; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D009728:Nursing Assistants / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires