The American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) has established measures for how quickly a resuscitation team is to respond in a cardiac arrest with performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation. Two of the core measures for GWTG require initiation of CPR within 1 minute of cardiac arrest and defibrillation within 2 minutes in at least 85% of cases. The problem of interest in this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was that the facility had not been able to reach 85% on these 2 measures. The purpose of this project was to achieve nursing response times for CPR and defibrillation to meet the core measures. Using the logic model, the project leader implemented mock code training over an 8-week period on the medical-surgical units. The study design for this project was a nonexperimental, retrospective chart review. Compliance data were obtained from the American Heart Association's GWTG database for the facility before and after implementation of mock code training. The results included a review of 10 cardiac arrest cases that occurred after implementation of training. There was 100% compliance with initiation of first compression within 1 minute of cardiac arrest. However, of 2 cases that required defibrillation, only 1 received the shock within 2 minutes. Quantitative descriptive analysis used percentages and a runs chart to compare response times prior to training with response times after training. The chart showed improvement in the area of first compression in meeting the goal of 85% compliance. As a result, the facility will continue to implement mock code training on a routine basis in its effort to improve patient outcomes, including survival and quality of life.

Stroke is a devastating disease. Stroke care has advanced greatly in the past 20 years with innovations in radiologic imaging, development of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), organized systems of care, telestroke, and best practice guidelines via Get with the Guidelines Stroke (GWTGS). However, stroke remains the 5th leading cause of death in the United States. To provide current and quality care for stroke patients, nurses need ongoing stroke education. Additionally, stroke centers must provide a sustainable stoke education program to their nurses to keep their knowledge current. Guided by Rosswurm and Larrabee's model, this quality improvement project addressed whether an educational program based on evidence in GWTGS could increase nursing knowledge of stroke. A convenience sample of 50 medical-surgical nurses from a stroke telemetry unit participated in this program. Nursing knowledge was assessed by using a student-developed tool based on the GWTGS best practice evidence to evaluate for increased knowledge regarding stroke and stroke management. Using simple descriptive statistics, the percent difference from pretest to posttest was calculated. The results revealed a 16.79% increase in nurses' knowledge. The practicum organization therefore adopted the program. Implications for nursing practice and social change include organizations adopting the educational program as a sustainable learning opportunity for nurses in regards to stroke care.