Impact of the Save the Shame! Game on Advanced Life Support Knowledge of Nurses and Physicians in Intensive Care Medicine Settings, a Pilot Randomized Study

Study Design The investigators developed an experimental approach, where randomization in sample identification was ensured and where a control group was present, favoring a strongest level of contribution to the evidence. This is a cross-sectional study with quantitative data collection following a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) design.

In order to carry out the proposed experimental study, it was necessary to create two essential elements in this process: the "Save the Same!" game and the ALS knowledge assessment test, which constitutes a data collection instrument necessary to test the research hypotheses.

Arms, Groups, and Interventions The population was defined as nurses and physicians of the intensive care units of a Portuguese hospital center (N=275). The inclusion criteria were, to be a nurse or a physician, to provide care in a intensive care unit of the identified hospital center (cirurgical, cardiothoracic, coronary, medical or trauma). On the other hand, the exclusion criteria were, be any other health professional, providing care in settings other than intensive care settings, absence of informed consent, belonging to the invited group of experts, participation in the instrument design pre-test.

Participants were invited via institutional email and data was collected through the access of on-line platforms.

The experimental group was asked to use the game. Two weeks were defined as the time to use the game. The use of the game can be seen by the coded digital record on its digital platform. The control group neither used nor had access to the game. Afterwards both groups performed the ALS knowledge assessment test. It is a test with 20 multiple choice questions each scored as right (0.5 points) or wrong (0 points).