Assessing ventilation skills by nursing students in paediatric and adult basic life support: A crossover randomized simulation study using Bag-Valve-Mask (BMV) vs Mouth-to-Mouth Ventilation (MMV)

To evaluate nursing students’ CPR skills using mouth-to-mouth (MMV) and bag-valve-mask (BMV) ventilation techniques on manikin simulators for infant and adult victims after practical and theoretical training. A quasi-experimental randomised cross-over design study with 44 nursing students was carried out. The participants attended a 5-hour theoretical and practical CPR training session using MMV and BMV on adult and infant manikins. A month later, four 4-minute CPR tests were performed in pairs. Two tests were performed on the infant manikin and two on the adult, using the two ventilation techniques (MMV and BMV). No significant differences between the tests were observed in the quality of chest compression (p > 0.008). Significantly higher values of effective ventilations were observed with MMV as compared with BMV in both age groups: Adult (MMV: 98 ± 7% / BMV: 84 ± 17% / p = 0.003) and Infant (MMV: 97 ± 11% / BMV: 76 ± 26% / p = 0.001). CPR quality was significantly higher when using MMV on the infant (68 ± 16%; p < 0.001) than in the other tests. The nursing students did not manage to master BMV with either victim. New complementary strategies to help them grasp the necessary BMV skills will be required.