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Interns’ anticipatory anxiety about cardiopulmonary resuscitation: reducing it while bolstering confidence with psychological skills training

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Abstract

Introduction

Dealing with emergencies is a critical responsibility of physicians-in-training. Residents typically lead cardio-pulmonary resuscitation efforts in a teaching hospital. A ‘Code Blue’ is a situation that is highly challenging, time sensitive and very often highly anxiety-provoking. Recently, there is greater recognition of the need and value of integrating specific psychological performance skills training to better manage the stress of critical situations. In this study, we sought to evaluate the impact of including a psychological skills training program with BLS/ACLS training for performance and confidence optimization and mitigation of anxiety in 1 year residents related to participating in and leading emergency resuscitations.

Materials and methods

First-year residents across six specialties underwent traditional BLS/ACLS training with the addition of a 3 h psychological skills training component (Code Calm) as part of their residency orientation. Anxiety and confidence-based questionnaires were used to evaluate the residents’ perceptions of code-related stress and confidence to lead resuscitation efforts.

Results

Code-related anxiety scores demonstrated a statistically significant decrease post training (p < 0.0001); general confidence scores showed a statistically significant increase post-training (p < 0.001); confidence in leading resuscitation showed a statistically significant increase (p < 0.0001).

Discussion

The results of this study demonstrate that BLS/ACLS training can positively influence anxiety and confidence in residents related to their resuscitation skills, especially if combined with psychological skills training. Future studies should evaluate the incremental value of including psychological skills training with BLS/ACLS and its impact on enhancing physical performance skills.

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Acknowledgements

Special appreciation is expressed to Yijin Wert, M.S., John Kays R.N, M.S., Laurie Schwing, MLS, Elizabeth Morgan, MLS, and Helen Houpt, MSLS, AHIP for their help in the preparation of this paper and completion of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Graduate Medical Education, UPMC Harrisburg, 205 S. Front Street, Suite 902, Harrisburg, PA, 17104, USA

    Michael Joseph Asken & Vinod Nookala

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, UPMC Pinnacle, Harrisburg, PA, USA

    Isha Shrimanker & Sandeep Bhattarai

  3. General Surgery Residency Program, UPMC Harrisburg, Harrisburg, PA, USA

    Vanessa Hortian

  4. Internal Medicine, UPMC Pinnacle, Lititz, PA, USA

    Victoria Slaven

Authors
  1. Michael Joseph Asken
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  2. Isha Shrimanker
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  3. Sandeep Bhattarai
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  4. Vanessa Hortian
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  5. Victoria Slaven
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  6. Vinod Nookala
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Joseph Asken.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and\or national research committee and with 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all the participants included in the study.

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Asken, M.J., Shrimanker, I., Bhattarai, S. et al. Interns’ anticipatory anxiety about cardiopulmonary resuscitation: reducing it while bolstering confidence with psychological skills training. Intern Emerg Med 16, 2009–2011 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-021-02768-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-021-02768-y

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