Enhancing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training: An Interprofessional Approach With Undergraduate Medicine and Nursing Students Using Self-Learning Methodology in Simulated Environments (MAES)—A Qualitative Study

Background: Training the knowledge and skills needed to recognize and respond quickly to cardiac arrest significantly increases patient survival rates. Recent advances in life support training focus on simulations. Interprofessional education, involving collaborative training between nursing and medical students, would enhance mutual understanding of roles and perspectives, resulting in comprehensive and real-world learning experiences. Self-learning methodology in simulated environments actively engages students by combining problem-based learning with clinical simulation.

Objectives: To analyze the perspective of a group of nursing and medical students in interprofessional training with self-learning methodology in simulated environments, clinical simulation in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as well as to describe the main strengths and weaknesses detected and worked on during cardiopulmonary resuscitation training with the self-learning methodology in simulated environments.

Method: This multicenter qualitative study, based on focus group analysis, delves into the views of nursing and medical students who underwent interprofessional clinical simulation training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Results: Benefits such as increased interest, motivation, and sense of responsibility are highlighted, along with improvements in teamwork, interprofessional education, and acquisition of both technical and nontechnical skills. Participants valued the structured debriefing sessions, which allowed them to learn from their mistakes. Suggestions for improvement revolved around the time constraints and responsibilities inherent in the methodology.

Conclusions: Interprofessional cardiopulmonary resuscitation training using the self-learning methodology in simulated environments offers an innovative and effective approach to improve traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation training paradigms.