Integration of Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice Into Prelicensure Nursing Curricula: Preparing Nursing Students for Cardiac Arrest Care.

Background: Nursing students are not consistently trained on how to care for patients experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. In rapid cycle deliberate practice (RCDP), learners perform a simulation with micro-debriefs interjected by the instructor.

Problem: RCDP has been used to train health care students on how to respond during a sudden cardiac arrest, but its application to prelicensure nursing students is underreported.

Approach: A curricular innovation was implemented based on RCDP and Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to educate prelicensure nursing students on how to care for patients experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. The outcome of the curricular innovation was evaluated via assessment of students' perceptions following participation in the curriculum innovation.

Outcomes: Eighty-four prelicensure nursing students completed the curricular innovation survey, with most student perceptions favorable.

Conclusion: Evaluation supports the integration of this curricular innovation into nursing curricula for sudden cardiac arrest training.