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Objective: Awareness of the changes concerning the clinical guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is essential for nurses. This study aimed at assessing the nurses’ knowledge of the 2015 American Heart Association basic life support guideline algorithm. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, the knowledge of 183 nurses working in emergency departments, intensive care unit (ICU) and coronary care unit (CCU) regarding the 2015 American Heart Association basic life support guideline algorithm was investigated. Data were collected by a 20-item questionnaire regarding the knowledge needed for resuscitation operations as well as the identification of the early stages of cardiac arrest. Nurses with a score of 10 and less were put in the poor group, 11-15 in the fair group, and score of more than 15 in the good group. Results: Results showed that the highest percentage of the right answer was observed in questions 20 (98.4%), 11 (93.4%), and 1 (88%), while the lowest percentage of the correct answer was found in questions 13 (30.6%), 2 (31.1%), and 3 (32.8%). Mean ± SD of knowledge score was 12.3±2.2. A statistically significant difference was observed between knowledge of ICU nurses with an experience of basic life support educational course and those with no experience of such education. The knowledge score of educated and non-educated nurses was 11.5±2.2 and 13.2±2.5, respectively. Conclusion: This study indicated that ICU nurses do not have enough knowledge about basic life support of the 2015 American Heart Association guideline. Development of knowledge is one of the important components of professional expansion in nursing education programs.

Objective: Emergency medical services (EMS) is a critical component of health care system and the forefront of stroke care. The prominent role of EMS in stroke care is timely and accurate diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke and transfer of the patients to stroke centers. The present study aimed to assess the "awareness" and "attitude" of EMS personnel concerning prehospital stroke care based on American Stroke Association (ASA) guideline in Rasht town. Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study. The participants, consisted of all EMS personnel (n=115) in Rasht town in 2012, entered the study based on census method. Awareness and attitude of EMS personnel toward prehospital stroke care were assessed using a questionnaire based on ASA guideline. The questionnaire had two sections. The first part contained demographic data and the second part had multiple choice items (Likert-type scale response anchors) to assess awareness and attitude of the personnel. The questionnaires were filled out by the personnel. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software version 20. P value less than 5% was considered significant. Results: Ninety people participated in this study. The average of age and working experience of participants were 36.84 ± 8.02 and 11.36 ± 5.71, respectively. Most of the participants had bachelor degree (n=33, 36.7%) and majored in medical emergency (n=43, 47.8%). Most of them were contract employees (47.8%). Mean scores of awareness and attitude of the personnel were 26.68 (the total number of score = 51) and 32.56 (the total number of score = 80), respectively. Conclusion: Findings revealed poor awareness and attitude of EMS personnel toward prehospital stroke care based on ASA guideline in Rasht Town. We recommended retraining courses to promote awareness of EMS personnel.