Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study explored nurses' perceptions of the core competencies required for providing postresuscitation care in both in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. DESIGN: Qualitative conventional content analysis. PARTICIPANTS: 17 nurses selected with purposeful sampling method. SETTING: Three educational hospitals in northwest of Iran. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection and they were analysed using conventional content analysis. RESULTS: Seven main categories have emerged from the data. The core competencies for nurses providing postresuscitation were identified as: quality assurance, providing evidence-based care, monitoring and presence, situation management, professionalism, positive attitude and providing family centred care. CONCLUSIONS: The postresuscitation period is a unique and critical time requiring highly competent nursing care. Several core competencies for providing high-quality nursing care during postresuscitation period were identified through nurses' experience in caring for patients postresuscitation.