Improving Resuscitation throughout the Care Continuum – Article Excerpt

April 1, 2021
April 1, 2021

The importance of resuscitation is changing, just as healthcare is changing. Where and how healthcare is delivered has been transformed significantly in recent years—the trend towards shorter inpatient stays and more frequent transfers from hospitals to alternative care settings is likely to continue. “As more healthcare is delivered outside the walls of acute-care hospitals, we must understand that leaders across the care continuum need to move beyond the traditional activity of simply getting CPR cards and really invest in the kind of training that their employees need—the kind of training that saves lives and improves outcomes,” stated Donna Haynes, former National Resuscitation Coach, HealthStream.

In an interview that was the basis for the HealthStream article, Improving Resuscitation throughout the Care Continuum: Lessons and Suggestions about CPR Training, Resuscitation Expert Haynes made the case for redoubling the efforts across the healthcare continuum to improve resuscitation readiness and competency. This article is the first in a series that will excerpt the article.

Success Rates for Resuscitation Are Grim

Why is improving resuscitation so important for the care continuum? It’s no secret that resuscitation rates are grim across the spectrum of healthcare. Outside of acute-care settings, they range from a shocking 2 to 11 percent, which is much more dire even than that in hospitals, where survival rates still range from a paltry 18 to 24 percent. Even when a victim does survive, nearly one in two will have newly developed impairments as a result of cardiac arrest. Organizations across the care continuum, including those in acute, post-acute, ambulatory, and health and human services are challenged to improve resuscitation rates while also maintaining patient functionality afterwards.

Strengthening CPR Training

The effort to strengthen resuscitation rates is occurring worldwide—one factor consistently illuminated as key to improvement is training. When asked about improving outcomes, Haynes responded, “The overall improvement is slowly happening because organizations are seeing the need to improve. It’s beyond just getting that CPR card. It’s about really having your staff provide quality CPR that saves lives, and organizations are starting to make the connection between that and the quality of the training they provide.”

Haynes saw that survival rates were linked to the type of training that students receive. “Organizations need to ask themselves, are their students receiving objective or subjective training?” she said. “Are they sitting in a classroom setting or running a mock code in a realistic or actual setting with a manikin? The hope is that students receive objective feedback which will help them improve their recall of that training in a real situation.”

The article also includes:

  • Challenges for Resuscitation Across the Care Continuum
  • Where Do CPR Guidelines Come From? ILCOR
  • Elements of a Successful Resuscitation Program—the Must-Haves
  • Results of a Successful Resuscitation Training Program
  • Importance of High Quality Resuscitation in Hospice Environment
  • Learning from Successful Resuscitation Programs
  • Future Predictions for CPR

Download the full article here.