Nursing care in the emergency of cardiac arrest in the hospital environment

Introduction: In Brazil, it is estimated that approximately 200 thousand cases of cardiac arrest (CRA) occur per year, and half of this number occurs in the in-hospital environment. Objective: To analyze nursing care in the emergency of cardiac arrest. Methodology: This is an integrative literature review aimed at answering the guiding question: what are the nursing procedures in the emergency care of victims of cardiac arrest? For data collection, it was used the search in the electronic library SCIELO and VHL and in the LILACS database with the combination of descriptors cardiac arrest, emergency care, behaviors, nursing. We included articles available in full in Portuguese between January 2008 and January 2018, and excluded monographs, dissertations and case reports. Titles and abstracts were read. The search originated 204 articles, after successive readings and elimination of duplicities, a total of 10 articles were obtained as a final sample. Results: Nurses need to recognize the alterations presented by patients before cardiac arrest, as well as in the increased vigilance in front of the signs and symptoms enabling early care, being able to prevent the arrest in some situations. Therefore, it is necessary that the nurse monitors the patient's circulation, takes the venous access, administers medications, assists the physician in this procedure, providing the aspiration material connected to the vacuum network; aspirating the airways, if necessary, among others. Conclusion: studies it was possible to conclude that the nurse, through his care, is an essential and trained professional to diagnose and attend a cardiac arrest, both in decision making to initiate care, as in medication care, role reporting performing a good systematization of nursing care, as to care for family members and other professionals of the team.