The professional and personal debriefing needs of ward based nurses after involvement in a cardiac arrest: An explorative qualitative pilot study

Background Current research demonstrates that debriefing staff post cardiac arrest in clinical practice is rare, with little evidence of effectiveness. Objectives The aim of this pilot study was to identify the needs of ward based nurses for debriefing after involvement in a cardiac arrest and to identify any barriers to participating in debriefing. Methodology An explorative qualitative study was undertaken with a purposive sample of seven nurses working on acute adult wards in a United Kingdom hospital. Data were collected by audio-recorded interviews and analysed using framework analysis. Findings Two key themes emerged relating to the nurses debriefing needs post a cardiac arrest. Nurses expressed ‘professional needs’ to use the experience as an opportunity to learn and improve practice, and ‘personal needs’ for reassurance and validation. Nurses identified barriers to engaging in debriefing including lack of awareness and uncertainty about the role of a debrief, identifying time for debriefing and the lack of clear guidance from organisational protocols. Conclusion Nurses make a distinction between ‘professional’ and ‘personal needs’ which may be met through debriefing. Debriefing is an untapped opportunity, which has the potential to be capitalised on after every cardiac arrest in order to improve care of patients and nurses.