Nurses have many roles and responsibilities in relation to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), including: recognising that a patient is deteriorating; recognising cardiac arrest and commencing CPR while waiting for the resuscitation team to arrive; ensuring the contents of the resuscitation trolley are present, in date and in full working order; and completing documentation for the National Cardiac Arrest Audit in participating healthcare organisations. Many patient safety incidents involving resuscitation trolley equipment and resuscitation have been reported, and predominantly relate to a lack of equipment, missing equipment and inadequately stocked trolleys. This article provides an overview of the contents of the standard resuscitation trolley and a rationale for the use of each item. It discusses the importance of checking and restocking the resuscitation trolley, as well as the documentation of CPR efforts.
Nursing Standard. 31, 23, 54-63. doi: 10.7748/ns.2017.e10461
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism usingautomated software
Conflict of interestNone declared
Received: 15 February 2016
Accepted: 22 September 2016
or
Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now
Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more