Objectives of the study: to apply a theoretical qualification program for nurses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and compare the theoretical knowledge group-A-control with group-B-experimental. This program comprised three stages: Stage-I, evaluation pre-theoretical qualification; Stages-II and III, evaluation of the recent (one week after stage-I) and later (three months after stage-I) qualification. The sample was composed of 21 nurses in Group-A and 38 in Group-B. The mean performance score in Group-A varied in a progressive form: 6.45; 6.66 and 7.10; in Group-B, in an oscillating form: 6.48; 8.36 and 8.0; stages II and III (p<0,001). It was concluded that: Group-B has been superior to Group-A. However, the performance of Group-B stage-II was superior to stage-III, while in the Group-A it was observed a gradual improvement.
Cardiac arrest; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Qualification in service
