To lead or not to lead? Prospective controlled study of emergency nurses' provision of advanced life support team leadership

Abstract

ALS trained nurses performed as well as ALS trained and non ALS trained emergency SHOs in a simulated cardiac arrest situation and had greater awareness of the potentially reversible causes of cardiac arrest. Thus if a senior or middle grade doctor is not available to lead the resuscitation team, it may be appropriate for experienced nursing staff with ALS training to act as ALS team leaders rather than SHOs.