[Influence of the academic degree and experience in learning performance on basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation guide].
OBJECTIVE
to determine if the different academic degrees or years of working experience in the emergency room (ER) modify the ability to learn the Basic Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Guide of the American Heart Association.


METHODS
Over a period of 3 years, 68 health care professionals participated. Participant's data were grouped by their education level as well as their experience in ER. The course included one reading assignment before class, lecture sessions, practice sessions, and problem solving sessions of hypothetical clinic cases. The students were evaluated before and after the course with various tests. A Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the differences among groups and the Mann-Whitney U test compared the differences within the groups. Significance was established at p < 0.05.


RESULTS
the students with more experience working in ER obtained the best grades (p < 0.001). In addition, those with higher academic degrees attained high grades (p < 0.01). The cumulative effect of experience and education also influenced the students' performance (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
the study found that experience has the highest weight in determining learning performance. The combination of both experience and educational attainment have a synergic effect in mastering the competencies.
Rodríguez-Ledesma
María de los Angeles
Mde L
Unidad de Cuiadados Intensivos, Hospital General de Zona 3, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mazatlán, Sinaloa. mamavidal@hotmail.com
Rueda-Montero
Juan Carlos
JC
D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000193:education*; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004522:Educational Status; D004630:Emergencies; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic