Basic life support training for undergraduate nursing students: an integrative review.
Abstract
The aim of this review was to identify the role of basic life support training interventions in international undergraduate nursing education, that support optimal acquisition and retention of knowledge, psychomotor skills and resuscitation self-efficacy. Twenty-four articles were identified and analysed using an integrative review approach. Studies were reviewed for quality using a Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. Common objective and standardised methods of basic life support education practice were identified: instructor led, simulation experiences, self-directed learning, skills training combined with clinical practicum, and computer-based training. Evaluation of competency was collected primarily from multiple-choice questionnaires or researcher-designed checklists, with a lack of objective performance data noted. Importantly, current teaching approaches do not guarantee acquisition or retention of basic life support skills. Objective feedback from technologies supporting cardiopulmonary resuscitation training may be useful in acquisition and retention of psychomotor skills, and therefore requires further exploration. Development of robust, psychometrically sound instruments are needed to accurately and consistently measure nursing students' skills performance.
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Existing instructional approaches cannot reliably secure both the acquisition and long-term retention of BLS skills.
“An integrative review by Dick-Smith et al. similarly underscored that existing instructional approaches cannot reliably secure both the acquisition and long-term retention of BLS skills”
From Application effect of Miller’s pyramid teaching method based on HeartCode BLS in basic life support training for nursing students (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
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- Authors
- Dick-Smith, F., Power, T., Martinez-Maldonado, R., & Elliott, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Technology Sydney (AU)
- Venue
- Nurse Education in Practice
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 50
- Pages
- 102957
- ISSN
- 1471-5953 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3118170818
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8
- FWCI
- 0.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nurse Education in Practice (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Emergency Medicine › Cardiac Arrest and Resuscitation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Simulation-Based Education in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Keywords
- basic life support, CPR training, undergraduate nursing education, psychomotor skills, skill retention, simulation-based training, self-directed learning, computer-based training, competency assessment, objective feedback, nursing students
- MeSH terms
- Clinical Competence, Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate, Educational Measurement, Humans, Students, Nursing, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
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