Prevention and Early Management of In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Challenge for Nursing Educators

Cardiac arrest can be defined as the heart’s inability to effectively eject blood out due to either an electrical or mechanical failure. This condition poses an immediate threat to life and is always considered to be a medical emergency. In Western countries, cardiac arrest is continuously highlighted as one of the leading causes of in-hospital death and the latest research suggests that survival rates after suffering one of these episodes still remain below 20% [1-3]. Consequently, prevention and effective early management of in-hospital cardiac arrest constitute the basis of international algorithms for saving lives.