title: Precordial electrode placement accuracy by nurses in a large midwestern tertiary care hospital.
abstract: A quality improvement project to increase the knowledge of nurses and the accuracy of electrocardiogram precordial lead placement among intensive care unit and progressive care unit staff was conducted using a single-group, pretest-posttest preexperimental design. Educational interventions based on the theory of planned behavior were developed from focus group data. A tip card, poster, and video were sequentially presented to more than 1,600 nurses. This resulted in statistically significant gains in both knowledge and accuracy (p < 0.02). This project supports the use of focus groups and the theory of planned behavior to guide education related to quality improvement.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Wirt
authors.forename: Christine Dooge
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Milbrath
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farnsworth
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D064648:Critical Care Nursing / Q000193:education*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004566:Electrodes; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008348:Manikins; D008910:Minnesota; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education*; D058996:Quality Improvement; D063128:Tertiary Health Care; D014741:Video Recording