The Carroll Community College Nursing Program will be part of a research study which tests the best way to learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In a hospital setting, nurses are often the first responders to events that require CPR, so a nurse’s ability to perform high-quality CPR is vital to increasing the patient’s chance of survival.

Yet, nurses in many clinical settings rarely use their CPR skills and may only practice them at the time of Basic Life Support (BLS) course completion—typically every one or two years. Studies have documented that this limited practice is not enough to maintain competence in CPR skills.

Carroll’s Nursing Program has been asked to participate in a Duke University-led research study, titled “Adaptive BLS Training: Optimizing Individual BLS Maintenance of Competence Training.” In collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711th Human Performance Wing, this study aims to shift the one-size-fits-all approach to CPR training to a competency-based, individualized training and practice.

“This represents an excellent opportunity to participate in a study centered on improving outcomes for training programs,” said Carroll President Dr. James D. Ball. “It is gratifying to know that our participation will help improve BLS training effectiveness across the nation.”

Nursing Program Director Dr. Nancy Perry adds, “Participation in nursing research is important for our nursing students. It provides an opportunity for students to be involved in evidence-based nursing practice.”

About 800 nursing students from nine schools of nursing in the U.S., including Carroll’s Nursing Program, are participating in this study. Each student is randomly assigned to one of four different types of CPR training: for four consecutive days; once a week for four weeks; once a month for four months; or once a quarter for four quarters.

One of the groups of students will receive a competency-based, individualized training and practice schedule using the Predictive Performance Optimizer (PPO). Students’ retention of CPR skills will be assessed at different intervals after their training. In the PPO group, the training schedule is tailored based on individual needs. Training and re-assessment involves real-time audio and visual feedback provided by a practice mannequin.

The study is conducted by Dr. Marilyn Oermann from Duke University School of Nursing and is coordinated by Dr. Suzan Kardong-Edgren, Robert Morris University. It is sponsored by the National League for Nursing and Laerdal Medical. Carroll’s Nursing Program’s site coordinator is Nancy Rogers.

Study activity began in August, 2015.

Back to top