Correct electrode placement and proper skin preparation for cardiac telemetry monitoring of patients at risk for arrhythmias increase the quality of the arrhythmic surveillance. Inconsistent arrhythmia surveillance can compromise patient safety and care outcomes. An inspection of international literature demonstrates that nurses generally do not adhere to cardiac monitoring standards.
The aims of this study were to determine cardiovascular nurses' knowledge of and adherence to practice standards for cardiac surveillance and whether their knowledge and practice improves over time.
A comparative study design was applied, and data were obtained by survey methodology.
Nurse delegates at the Annual National Congress on Cardiovascular Nursing in Norway completed surveys in 2011 and 2017 (delegates from 44 and 38 hospitals, respectively).
In total, 363 cardiac nurses (70%) responded to the questionnaires. Of these, 95% were female, with a mean age of 41?years. In 2011, 97% of participants were unaware of international practice standards. However, by 2017 unawareness decreased to 78% (P?