INTRODUCTION:

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is divided into two main levels: Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). This distinction exists because, in reality, most cardiac arrests don’t happen in hospitals; they happen at home, at work, or in public places. In those vital seconds, a friend or a relative, or even a passerby could be standing close by, as opposed to a doctor or a nurse. This is where BCLS steps in. It equips these ordinary lifesavers with the clear skills that enable them to intervene and alter the situation until trained personnel come.¹

It really matters to know how well students know how to give first aid and perform CPR because every second counts when there is an emergency. Additionally, one should take into account how accessible this type of training is from various fields of study. BLS is all about keeping someone alive in those first critical moments by making sure their airway is open, they are breathing and their heart is pumping. That means checking the person’s condition, managing their airway, giving rescue breaths and chest compressions – what we call CPR.²

Cardiac arrest is a serious and potentially lethal emergency that can happen any time, anywhere, at home, at work or a hospital. So, while it’s a scary situation indeed, it’s a situation where immediate action can truly save a life. Right away, starting Basic Life Support (BLS) can greatly improve the chances of survival. It can make the difference between life and death when someone has the right knowledge and confidence to step in and help. Being prepared isn’t just important in those critical moments, it’s everything.³

Cardiac arrest is a sudden, life-threatening event in which the heart stops beating and blood flow to the brain and other vital organs is stopped. It’s one of the leading killers in the world, and it frequently occurs in places besides hospitals where every second matters. In moments as such, the difference between life and death depends on quick action. CPR is a simple, but powerful technique that uses chest compressions and rescue breaths to keep oxygen moving through the body until medical help arrives. This usually includes 30 chest compressions followed by 2 breaths, either mouth-to-mouth or with the use of a breathing device. In certain circumstances, in which the rescuer is not trained in breathing rescue, continuous chest compressions can still make a big difference.⁴

Now more than all types of cancer, heart disease is the number one killer in the world. In India, sudden heart attacks kill 4,280 people out of every 100,000 per year. Heart disease remains the top cause of death globally and will likely continue to be so in 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Heart disease claims about 13 percent of all deaths worldwide and 17.1 million lives each year due to heart-related conditions. By 2030, this number may reach 23.4 million. This proves that it is necessary to raise awareness and prevent heart problems, as well as quick action when required.⁵

CPR is not just a procedure for nurses; it is an important part of the care of patients in situations that are threatening to life. Technical skills alone are not enough: a nursing officer also needs to know, have confidence and be quick on the uptake when it comes to making the right decision in a critical moment. These decisions can be the difference between life and death, build trust between nurse and patient and family, and overall, quality of nursing care.⁶

There is a life-saving application that supports healthcare professionals and students in building their skills and confidence in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). The app has been built around real-life clinical scenarios for more engaging and practical learning. Not only does it deepen understanding and sharpen the clinical decision, it also motivates self-directed learning anytime, anywhere.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To investigate the knowledge levels of nursing officers on Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) before and after the introduction of an educational programme.

2. To describe and compare the practical skills of nursing officers who had attended BLS and ACLS before and after training.

3. To develop and implement a structured training program with a view to improving the knowledge and skills of nursing officers in the areas of BLS and ACLS.

4. To compare the knowledge and practice levels of nursing officers who have completed the educational program.

5. To examine the association between post-test knowledge score of nursing officers and some socio-demographic characteristics.

6. To establish the relationship between the post-test practice scores of nursing officers and some selected socio-demographic characteristics.

HYPOTHESIS:

H1: There will be a significant difference in the Knowledge Score of the Experimental and Control Groups between pretest and post-test, measured according to structured questionnaires of the 0. 05 level of significance.

H2: There will be a Practice score differences between pretest and post-test of participants in the experimental and control groups are expected to be significantly different as assessed by an observation checklist, at the 0. 5% level of significance.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Research Approach:

In this study a quantitative research method was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program designed to enhance the knowledge and practice of nursing officers in basic and advanced cardiac life support (BLS & ACLS).

Research Design:

The impact of intervention was evaluated using a quasi - experimental design of pre and post test control groups.

Study Setting:

The research was done in a chosen hospital and the study sample was nursing officers.

Population:

The data in this study were collected from nursing officers working within the chosen healthcare setting.

Sampling Technique, Setting, and Sample Size:

Purposive sampling included a total of 200 nursing officers from the hospital and of these 100 were included in the experimental group and 100 in the control group. The study was conducted in a different hospital.

Data Collection:

Purposive sampling was used in choosing the study participants who met one of the following inclusion criteria: (a) are Nursing Officers currently working in Hospitals; (b) are willing to participate in the research and (c) are willing to be present during the data collection period.

The study will be conducted with a pre-test that collects socio-demographic information in an interview. Knowledge of participants will be mapped using a self-designed questionnaire and practice will be mapped to the observer’s checklist. The initial assessment will take approximately 20 to 30 minutes per participant.

After the pre-test, an educational activity covering the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines will be conducted. The 45-minute lecture-cum-discussion session will be followed by a 45-minute demonstration using a mannequin. Additional learning materials may be provided to participants for repeat reading as needed.

When the training has ended 15 days after the end of the training there will be a post-test (Post-Test I) involving once again the self-structured knowledge questionnaire and the observational checklist so as to re-evaluate the participants’ knowledge and practice.

DATA COLLECTION TOOLS:

To gather the necessary information, the following tools were developed:

· A knowledge questionnaire was designed to assess nursing officers' knowledge of Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS).

· The use of a structured observation checklist was developed to assess the practical skills of nursing officers in performing BLS/ACLS procedures.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Effectiveness in Terms of Knowledge:

As explained in the results, there was a marked improvement of knowledge level of nursing officers participating in the educational program. As shown in the experimental group, the average knowledge score of the group was increased from 21.1% in the pre-test to 38. 9% in the post-test, meaning a mean difference of 17.8%.

Furthermore, the post-test scores of both groups showed a significantly higher average score for the experimental group (mean score 38.1) than for the control group (21. 1) which suggests that the educational intervention had a high positive effect on the knowledge of the nursing officers.

Effectiveness in Terms of Practice:

Similar trends were observed in the practice scores. The experimental group showed considerable improvement, with a mean post-test practice score of 62.5 compared to a pre-test score of 22.2 a substantial improvement of 40. 3 points.

The post-test practice scores among the three experimental groups (62.5%, 22.1%, and 41.4%) clearly showed a very high relative performance of the experimental group (over all, 62.5%), as measured by Mann–Whitney test, and those of the control group (22. 1%) (which has a mean difference of 40.4%).

CONCLUSION:

There was a general disparity in the knowledge and skills on Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) between nursing officers, the study found.

That said, there are clearly opportunities for educational interventions to promote both understanding and practical skills in these areas.

The educational program at the training session was found to be effective in improving knowledge of BLS and ACLS by the nursing officers.

At the same time the program significantly enhanced their practical application of these lifesaving techniques.

KEY POINTS:

1. Nursing Practice:

The educational program on BLS (Basic Life Support) and ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) provides an important clinical competence boost to the nursing officers in emergency response in life-threatening emergencies. Improved knowledge and skills facilitate timely and effective intervention in cardiac and respiratory arrest and thus better survival rate of patients. Regular training sessions are an effective method to keep the skills and knowledge in long term memory, to ensure skill retention, confidence building and readiness in emergencies.

2. Health and Social Care Policy:

That point stresses the importance of resuscitation training programming that is structured and mandatory for all nursing officers as part of institutional policies. Health care institutions and their regulatory bodies need to consider making BLS/ACLS certification a precondition for employment and periodic recertification a precondition for continuing professional practice. Policy makers need to seek adequate funding for ongoing training, simulation facilities and policy development to ensure a skilled and prepared workforce, in turn improving public health outcomes and trust in health services.

3. Future Research:

Further research is needed into the long-term influencing factors of BLS and ACLS training on patient outcomes, preserving skills over time, and cost/benefits of such programs. Tasks on comparative studies of trained and untrained nursing staff may inform further understanding of the relevance of the BLS/ACLS program for healthcare contexts and potentially comparative studies examining the effectiveness of different teaching methods (e. g. simulation education versus traditional lecture) in learning the skills necessary for emergency care education.

LIMITATIONS:

· The study was limited only to one group.

· Study is limited to a small sample of people as there is no time.

· The study will be restricted to nursing officers willing to participate and available at the time of data collection.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· Depending upon the research study conducted a set of recommendations are made for future research study

· It is possible to do the study on a wider range of population, so that the results can be generalized from the study.

· The study can be conducted in a community setting.

REFERENCES:

1. Hamilton R. Assessment of knowledge and skill retention following cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. New Ham University Hospital: NHS Trust, UK; 2005. p. 288–95.

2. Albert CM, McGovern BA, Newell JB, Ruskin JN. Sex differences in cardiac arrest survivors. Circulation. 1996; 93(6): 1170–6. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.93.6.1170

3. Dariush M, Emelia JB, Alan SG, Donna KA, Michael JB, Mary C, et al. heart disease and stroke statistics—2015 update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2015; 131(6): 152–74. Available from: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2014/12/18/CIR.000000002000000152

4. Bedell SE, Delbanco TL, Cook EF, Epstein FH. Survival after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the hospital. N Engl J Med. 2003; 309(8): 569–76.

5. World Health Organization. WHO atlas on global heart disease and stroke epidemic [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2004 Sep [cited 2025 May 1]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr68/en/

6. Journal of the American Medical Association. JAMA e-journal of the American Medical Association [Internet]. [cited 2025 May 1]. Available from: http://www.kmcmanaa.org/CARDIO.doc

Received on 03.11.2025 Revised on 27.12.2025

Accepted on 29.01.2026 Published on 26.02.2026

Available online from March 03, 2026

A and V Pub J. of Nursing and Medical Res. 2026;5(1):25-28.

DOI: 10.52711/jnmr.2026.06

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