Basic life support (BLS) skills are essential for all healthcare professionals to learn and maintain proficiency. BLS refers to the provision of chest compressions, rescue breathing, an automated external defibrillator (AED), and recognition of cardiac arrest in an emergency. While online or video-based training can provide theoretical knowledge, hands-on practice in a classroom setting is crucial for developing true competency in performing BLS.
This article will explore five key reasons why hands-on BLS skill training classes are crucial for building clinical abilities in healthcare workers.
1. Practical Skill Development
One of the most obvious reasons for hands-on training is that it allows professionals to develop the manual dexterity and coordination required to perform BLS skills properly. In a classroom setting with manikins, trainees can gain experience providing actual chest compressions and rescue breaths. They receive feedback on hand placement, compression rate, depth, head tilt, and chin lift technique for ventilation.
Simply watching a video cannot replicate the ability to feel anatomical landmarks and practice the physical motions. Moreover, hands on BLS class are necessary for trainees to build muscle memory for skills that must be performed automatically in an emergency.
Furthermore, in-person practice sessions make it easier for trainees to reach and maintain competency standards set by resuscitation guidelines. Repeated manikin practice in a structured class setting is needed to develop fine motor skills and perform proficiently during an actual cardiac arrest scenario.
2. Muscle Memory Formation
Another bonus of hands-on training is forming muscle memory. At first, you have to think about each step of CPR. But with lots of practice in dummies, the skills get stuck in your brain without you thinking about them. This lets you do CPR automatically in an emergency without thinking about each move.
Research shows that muscle memory patterns form from physically doing tasks repeatedly. Hands-on training gives the repetition needed for skills to become natural habits you can recall and do during an actual cardiac arrest. Just watching videos doesn’t drive the same brain changes as pumping and breathing in class. The physical learning from doing it helps CPR become second nature for providers. Studies prove kinesthetic learning from moving around is vital for BLS skills to feel instinctive.
3. Real-Time Feedback
Hands-on classes have a good advantage – you get feedback from the teachers immediately. When practicing CPR on dummies, the instructors can watch your chest compressions, how deep and fast you push, and if your arms go up after each push. They can then tell you how to improve your form while you’re doing it. This helps fix mistakes immediately instead of practicing the wrong way for a long time.
Getting feedback is important for learning motor skills like CPR. Studies show feedback helps you perform skills better and remember them longer. In a hands-on class, teachers can watch multiple people at once and give each one advice just for them. Students also learn from watching others get corrected, which increases learning even more. It’s hard to copy the back-and-forth between student and teacher online or by yourself. Hands-on feedback is best for improving fast.
4. Team Coordination
An additional advantage of hands-on BLS classes relates to team coordination. In many healthcare settings, two or more providers working together perform BLS interventions like compressions and ventilations. Classroom training allows multiple students to practice as a coordinated team, with one student performing compressions while another gives ventilation, for example.
This simulation of a real code blue scenario gives trainees experience assuming roles, communicating effectively and synchronizing their actions. Instructors can provide coaching on how teams should efficiently transition skills while minimizing interruptions in chest compressions. Furthermore, studies have shown that team coordination during resuscitations can impact patient survival rates. Hands-on skill practice is needed to prepare providers for the dynamics of working as an effective resuscitation team when an event occurs.
5. Confidence Building
Finally, hands-on skill classes are invaluable for building confidence in one’s ability to perform BLS. More than simply gaining theoretical knowledge is required to feel genuinely comfortable responding to an actual emergency. Practicing skills repeatedly on manikins in a safe, low-stakes environment allows trainees to achieve mastery in a graduated manner.
This experiential learning helps reduce anxiety associated with performing life-saving techniques. Moreover, provider confidence levels directly correlate with willingness to initiate BLS and perform at a high standard in the field. Thus, hands-on training provides opportunities to practice skills until they feel natural. It allows any uncertainties to be addressed through guided scenarios and feedback to establish mental self-assurance in one’s clinical abilities.
Wrapping Up
Hands-on BLS skill training classes offer many core advantages that isolated self-study cannot replicate. Through repetitive physical practice on manikins, healthcare professionals can better develop critical motor skills, form muscle memory pathways, receive invaluable feedback, practice synchronized teamwork, and build inner confidence.
All of these factors contribute directly to their ability to reliably recall and properly perform life-saving interventions like compressions, ventilations, and AED use during actual emergencies. Hands-on skill practice with instructors should remain an essential component of BLS education to optimize clinicians’ competence and ensure the best possible outcomes for patients in need of resuscitation.