Use of an arrhythmia simulator for the evaluation of nurses´ knowledge and as a teaching tool

The aim of this study was the evaluation of the usefulness of an arrhythmia simulator: (1) for measuring the different skills of nurses in recognizing the arrhythmic events on the ECG monitors (2) as a teaching tool for improving the nurses´ efficiency. Using an arrhythmia simulator connected to the same ECG monitors used in the nurses´ working places we proposed 25 arrhythmic events to 28 nurses (group A) with no experience of intensive care (CCU), and to 6 nurses with at least 3 years of experience in CCU. Group A attended a course and was finally reevaluated. The sensitivity and specificity in detecting the arrhythmic emergencies were respectively: 91.7% and 66% for group A; 88.9% and 93.9% for group B; 91.1% and 95.7% for group A after the course. So our conclusion is that the use of this simulator is an excellent tool for measuring and improving the nurses´ efficiency.