Perceptions of parental awareness, knowledge and anxiety levels regarding Infant Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training amongst parents residing in Southern Tasmania

Abstract

Prenatal and postnatal education help to prepare parents to care appropriately for their newborn child. This education however, rarely includes learning infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR. CPR for Infants differs from both adult and paediatric resuscitation techniques, and most people who do learn CPR usually only learn adult techniques. Research shows that bystander intervention with CPR improves the chances of both survival and survival without sequelae in out of hospital arrests. Including Infant CPR education as part of the general parent education could assist in scenarios of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or other emergency situations. Some concern has been raised over whether this would affect parents’ anxiety levels, however most research indicates that it helps to decrease anxiety and increase confidence. This was an exploratory pilot study on which further large studies could be based. This study was a descriptive convergent (concurrent) mixed methods study utilising a survey to gather both quantitative and qualitative data in conjunction with interviews with nurses from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The hard copy survey collected data to determine current infant CPR knowledge levels using closed questions and perceptions of infant CPR using open ended questions. It also provided information about the parents’ perceived need for infant CPR education as part of standard pre and postnatal education. The sample population involved parents of infants and children up to two years of age, located in Southern Tasmania. The interviews were conducted with neonatal intensive care (NICU) nurses in order togather an understanding of what current education is provided and what nurses perceive in regard to infant CPR being introduced as part of discharge education. From the data collected, it was found that the overwhelming majority of parents would like to learn infant CPR around the birth of a baby and felt that such education would help improve confidence and decrease anxiety associated with having a new baby. The nurses interviewed felt that the education could be included with minimal disruption and if scheduled well and education provided to the nurses, there would be minimal issue in providing parents with this education