Anderson Regional Medical Center is taking a new approach to CPR training by implementing the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Quality Improvement program, increasing its frequency in training.

“RQI is a new and truly innovative program that has transformed the way hospitals view CPR competency for their staff,” Lisa Primiani, development manager for the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Quality Improvement program, Greater Southeast Affiliate, said in a statement. “Currently, hospital staff members are required to attend a CPR class once every two years. Our science has proved that CPR skills decay in as little as three months.”

With RQI, hospital staff members practice their CPR skills at the point of care (on a hospital floor), using real-time audio-visual feedback in 10-minute sessions every 90 days to achieve and maintain high-quality skills, according to a news release from Anderson.

“The RQI program makes CPR a regular practice for our clinical personnel,” Kim Riley, ARMC project coordinator and AHA-training center coordinator, said in a statement. “When using RQI, they feel more confident with their skills, and RQI Analytics prove that CPR quality is improved.”

 

The RQI program has been developed through a collaboration between the Association and Laerdal Medical, wherein the Association provides expertise in evidence-based research and best-practice guidance, and Laerdal Medical provides proven simulation/learning technology, according to an Anderson news release.

Utilizing a variety of learning tools with an emphasis on skills mastery through low-dose, high-frequency sessions and performance feedback, the RQI program offers three components: cognitive, psychomotor skills and simulated patient cases.

• Cognitive may involve interactive lectures, videos or web-based content and is targeted to specific provider groups within the hospital and in other healthcare settings.

• Psychomotor Skills sessions monitor and report CQI metrics and equipment used in the healthcare setting, utilizing performance measurements completed within the healthcare facility’s clinical units.

• Simulated Patient Cases require students to assess and treat a virtual patient care scenario and are integral to assessing a student’s ability to apply their RQI skills to a real patient case.

During the skills session/assessment, students are provided real-time, audio/visual feedback through a laptop, and student performance data is archived in a learning management system (e.g. compressions of adequate rate and depth, full chest recoil, minimal interruption to compressions, avoidance of excessive ventilation). This data is used to track and document individual student performance.

“RQI is the gold-standard for resuscitation quality improvement and skills maintenance within hospitals,” Primiani said in a statement. “There is no other program for medical professionals that addresses skills decay and provides objective feedback. Hospitals credit RQI as a catalyst for a Culture of Resuscitation Excellence in their organization. Above all else, RQI is a clinical quality improvement program that saves lives.”