A Cross-International Study to Evaluate Knowledge and Attitudes Related to Basic Life Support among Undergraduate Nursing Students—A Questionnaire Study

Abstract

Practicing the algorithms of basic life support (BLS) is essential in order to take adequate measures to save lives, and future nursing staff should be advanced when it comes to performing lifesaving activities. The purpose of the study was to analyse the theoretical and practical knowledge of nursing students (within the undergraduate course) with regards to the basic life support (BLS). The study has a prospective, comparative and descriptive nature. Three countries that educate nursing students within the undergraduate course participated in the project. Data was collected with the use of a questionnaire based on the guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC 2015). The study was carried out among a total of 748 respondents from three countries: Poland (n = 189, 25.3%), Lithuania (n = 500, 66.8%) and Spain (n = 59; 7.9%). The average age of respondents was 23.41 (SD ± 5.90). The average score obtained by the respondents who answered the questions was 11.13 with a standard deviation of SD ± 2.29. The conducted study revealed that a substantial number of the respondents who participated in the study obtained an average result concerning theoretical and practical knowledge of BLS. It was also confirmed that the additional education in the form of first aid training courses has a major impact on improving the levels of knowledge among the students in each of the analysed country.