Retention of basic life support knowledge, self-efficacy and chest compression performance in Thai undergraduate nursing students

•The quality of CPR among nursing students before CPR training is inferior to the standards of care.•The training had an immediate significant effect on the knowledge, self-efficacy, and skill of chest compression.•The knowledge and self-efficacy significantly declined after post-training for 3 months.•A retraining program to maintain knowledge and self-efficacy should be established after post-training for 3 months.

This study explored the retention of basic life support knowledge, self-efficacy, and chest compression performance among Thai nursing students at a university in Thailand. A one-group, pre-test and post-test design time series was used. Participants were 30 nursing students undertaking basic life support training as a care provider. Repeated measure analysis of variance was used to test the retention of knowledge and self-efficacy between pre-test, immediate post-test, and re-test after 3 months. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the difference in chest compression performance two times. Basic life support knowledge was measured using the Basic Life Support Standard Test for Cognitive Knowledge. Self-efficacy was measured using the Basic Life Support Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. Chest compression performance was evaluated using a data printout from Resusci® Anne and Laerdal skillmeter within two cycles. The training had an immediate significant effect on the knowledge, self-efficacy, and skill of chest compression; however, the knowledge and self-efficacy significantly declined after post-training for 3 months. Chest compression performance after training for 3 months was positively retaining compared to the first post-test but was not significant. Therefore, a retraining program to maintain knowledge and self-efficacy for a longer period of time should be established after post-training for 3 months.