There are a host of reasons why St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton, is working toward increasing its cardiac resuscitation program.

Considering that statistics show that more than 200,000 in-hospital cardiac arrests occur annually in the U.S. with adult survival rates at less than 26 percent; patients who suffer a cardiac arrest must receive the highest quality CPR possible, not to mention that for decades, the CPR training standard for healthcare providers has been Basic Life Support with a requirement for participants to renew their course completion card every two years, are factors in why the hospital has implemented the Resuscitation Quality Improvement® (RQI®) program – to help achieve sustained mastery of high quality CPR skills and competency, resulting in improved patient outcomes.

St. Francis Medical Center is the only hospital in Mercer County and one of the first facilities in the nation to implement RQI 2020, an enhanced resuscitation quality improvement portfolio that was launched by the American Heart Association® and Laerdal Medical® in 2018.

"St. Francis is excited to implement the RQI® program and work with the American Heart Association® and Laerdal® Medical in shifting to a new standard of resuscitation care – competency,” said Jennifer Povio, interim chief nursing officer, St. Francis Medical Center.  “As the heart hospital for Mercer County, St. Francis is committed to providing quality, cardiovascular care and training to our team to maximize outcomes for those we serve.”
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Last July, AHA and Laerdal Medical called for a new standard of care in resuscitation practice from course training once every two years to verified CPR competency for healthcare professionals. Introduced in 2015, the RQI program was designed for healthcare professionals with responsibility for patient care. Now, RQI 2020 prepares all healthcare system staff members to deliver high-quality CPR and verify competency in Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support through simulated skills sessions and eLearning simulations.

RQI 2020 provides “low-dose, high-frequency” hands-on CPR quality improvement sessions, in 10 minutes every 90 days, that measure and verify competency each time. The program also provides analytics that can measure individual, department, facility or system compliance. In addition, it allows for simplified enrollment and offers additional modules for learners when necessary. The RQI program demonstrates our team’s commitment to making high-quality CPR a priority organization-wide and furthering our mission to improve patient care and help save lives,” stated Ryan Ihlenfeldt, clinical director of Telemetry, Critical Care and Nursing Education at St. Francis Medical Center.