Sparks Code-Blue Ability Questionnaire of Novice Nurses in the ICU

Purpose: The need for intensive care nurses worldwide is growing.  Turnover rates of critical care nurses in excess of 12% and an aging population living with more complex health issues has created a continuing need to educate novice nurses who are working in intensive care units with little to no experience in this specialty.  A comprehensive literature review of the literature was conducted to determine the existence of a tool to test the confidence level of novice nurses during code-blue resuscitation.  No standardized questionnaire was found to measure the effectiveness of education on the confidence of novice nurse’s in code-blue skills before and after mock code-blue simulations. The purpose of this project therefore was to develop and test the initial reliability and validity of the Sparks Code-Blue Ability Questionnaire of the Novice Nurse in the ICU.

Methods: A mixed-methods design will be used in this study.  A 10-point Likert-type  questionnaire was developed to assess confidence of the novice nurse in a code-blue scenario. The research questions for this study are: 1) What is the initial reliability and validity of the Sparks Code-Blue Ability Questionnaire of Novice Nurses in the ICU (SCBAQ)?  2) What is the confidence of novice nurses before and after the mock code-blue simulation as measured by the SCBAQ.  In order to assess the validity of the questionnaire the item-level I-CVI method will be used.  A panel of (n=5) experts will be recruited to determine the content validity index of the SCBAQ.   Data will be collected from a population of novice nurses (n=30).  The SCBAQ will be administered at pre and post test during simulated code blue scenarios on both day and night shifts over a period of two months.  A paired t-test, alpha < 0.05, will be used to compare mean pre-test post-test scores on the SCBAQ.  

Results: IRB approval for this study has been obtained.  Data collection for research questions one and two are in progress.

Conclusion: The ability to retain qualified ICU nurses is essential to the health of the public.  The Sparks Code-Blue Ability Questionnaire of the Novice Nurse in the ICU is a newly created tool that may help to determine the confidence level of the novice nurse during a code blue and further research is merited.