Creating a Culture of Resuscitation Excellence [Checklist]

EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Jeff Jensen for writing today's blog post. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. 

Last February, the American Heart Association committed to saving 50,000 additional lives from in-hospital sudden cardiac arrest by 2025. In July, they announced RQI 2020 that offers a comprehensive end-to-end quality improvement program designed to deliver higher quality of CPR to health care systems.  The market debut will be January of 2019 through its newly formed joint venture with Laerdal, RQI Partners, LLC.

So what is RQI?

Resuscitation Quality Improvement, or RQI, is intended to improve Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) skills, while also making training more convenient for healthcare providers. Students can take the cognitive components of testing online and then test their psychomotor skills with real-time feedback by performing CPR at mobile Simulation Stations (such as SIM-MT, the state-wide simulation project based in Pulsara's home town of Bozeman, MT) equipped with adult and infant manikins.

Stations can come to the students directly, meaning healthcare providers reduce time away from their patients because they aren’t taking time off from work to learn the training and be tested in a classroom course. At each RQI Station, a tablet connects the student to training material and provides helpful visual and audio feedback for compressions and ventilations, monitors the quality of performance and provides reinforcement or suggestions for improvement.

Organizations who value quality in resuscitation improvement initiatives and who are looking for solutions to improve performance and patient outcomes should follow this checklist for optimal RQI Adoption: 

• Have a focused Program Coordinator/Manager
• Have frequent, open, honest communication to the team
• Do an internal media blitz-before, during, and after launch
• Prioritize maintenance of competence strategies
• Utilize Simulation Training
• Have high-quality CPR focus organization wide
• Perform regular mock codes and team training
• Form resuscitation committees focused outcomes
• Place high importance on tracking of IHCA outcomes 

Here are some sample excerpts from real-life news releases around this topic:

“Salem Health, located in Salem, Oregon, is the premier health care provider for Oregon’s Williamette Valley. It includes the main campus in Salem, Salem Health West Valley and other clinics and services. Salem Health’s Salem Hospital achieved Magnet re-designation in 2015 from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for quality patient care, clinical excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice."

And another -- this certified unit assistant, who normally doesn’t work with patients, had completed her quarterly American Heart Association RQI skills training just days before facing the ultimate test: “Innovative CPR training program helps health system employee save a life outside hospital walls.” 

Are you ready for a Culture of Resuscitation Excellence?