PURPOSE
Cardiac arrest has multiple characteristics that need to be approached as an integrated method according to the various changes in the body system. This study was performed to develop a useful guideline for early detection of cardiac arrest by revealing the attributes of cardiac arrest through a concept analysis.
METHODS
This study was conducted according to the Walker and Avant's concept analysis method. Systematic literature review and in-depth interview with nurses who experienced cardiac arrest situation were conducted. Based on the literature reviews and in-depth interviews with nurses, the attributes and the empirical referents of the concept of cardiac arrest were elicited.
RESULTS
The definable attributes of cardiac arrest were 1) loss of consciousness, 2) abnormal respiratory condition, 3) abnormal cardiovascular signs. Cardiac arrest was found to occur by several antecedents such as cardiac problem, non-cardiac problem, or general problem, whereas ischemia and re-perfusion injury, which can lead to multiple organ failure and death, were derived as consequences.
CONCLUSION
In this study, the concept analysis eliciting attributes and empirical referents is found to be useful as a guideline for understanding and managing cardiac arrest. Based on these findings, clinical providers are expected to make a precise and rapid decision on cardiac arrest and respond quickly, which may increase survival rate of the patients underwent the arrest event.

Citations

• Temporal patterns of change in vital signs and Cardiac Arrest Risk Triage scores over the 48 hours preceding fatal in‐hospital cardiac arrest
  HyunSoo Oh, KangIm Lee, WhaSook Seo
  Journal of Advanced Nursing.2016; 72(5): 1122.     CrossRef
• Trend Analysis of Research in the Korean Journal of Adult Nursing for 5 Years (2010~2014): Focused on Usage of Nursing Theories
  Nam Kyung Han, Sanghee Kim, Myoung Shin Kim, Jong Gun Kim, Chang Hwan Kim, Seung Hye Choi
  Korean Journal of Adult Nursing.2015; 27(5): 527.     CrossRef