Introduction: Attitudes towards cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among in-hospital healthcare professionals (HCPs) are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate attitudes towards CPR situations among in-hospital HCPs and assess associations with potential influencing factors.
Materials and methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 3,085 HCPs in 2009 and 2,970 HCPs in 2015-2016. The associations of influencing factors were analyzed using binary logistic regression.
Results: In the event of a possible cardiac arrest situation, 61% of the HCPs would feel confident in their CPR knowledge, 86% would know what to do, and 60% would be able to take command if necessary. In the latest real-life CPR situation, 30% had been worried about making mistakes or causing complications, 57% had been stressed, and 27% had been anxious. A short time since the latest real-life CPR performance and a high number of previous real-life CPR performances were associated with lower odds of worrying about making mistakes/causing complications, lower odds of feeling stressed or anxious, and higher odds of feeling calm. Regardless of previous real-life CPR experience, there were differences in attitudes between groups of professions, where physicians showed increased odds of worrying about making mistakes/causing complications and nurses showed increased odds of stress. Working on a non-monitored ward meant increased odds of stress and worrying about making mistakes/causing complications. Twelve months or more having passed since the latest CPR training course was associated with increased odds of anxiety.
Conclusions: Despite HCPs' generally positive attitudes towards performing CPR in the event of a possible cardiac arrest situation, feelings of stress and anxiety were common in real-life CPR situations. Regular CPR training among all HCPs is a key factor to maintain competence and reduce anxiety. The possible effects of attitudes on performing CPR need to be studied further.