Wouldn’t you want to learn how to give better CPR and save more lives in the process? I do! The American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical just launched an enhanced resuscitation quality improvement portfolio for healthcare. It’s called RQI® 2020.
RQI is short for the Resuscitation Quality Improvement® program. This is the combined efforts of RQI Partners. LLC, American Heart Association (AHA) and Laerdal Medical. RQI Partners is a joint venture partnership between the AHA and Laerdal. The purpose of this enhanced program is to deliver higher quality CPR at a lower cost to healthcare systems and professionals.
Hi, I am a Nurse Blogger
I would love to introduce myself. My name is Meg and I’ve been a nurse for 10 years with a BSN in Nursing from Florida International University. I have worked all over healthcare, from rehabs to Emergency rooms, Telemetry floors to Cardiovascular Step-down units. I’ve seen it all. Healthcare is a wonderfully exhausting and rewarding field, I absolutely love being a nurse and teaching other nurses how to be the best they can be.

This website is full of helpful guides and printouts to make your nursing career easier and more organized. Be sure to check out my COMPLETE GUIDE TO NURSING with tips, report sheet examples, how to give the best report, how to do a 5 min morning assessment, a daily flow of your shift print out, quick EKG interpretations, how to talk to doctors, and everything you need for a good nursing foundation. The most popular article around here is the “How to Feel Confident in a Code“. What is with the anxiety and resistance to a code blue?
Code Blue! Cardiac Arrest in the Hospital
Speaking of codes. I have some incredible statistics released from the American Heart Association to share with you. Did you know that more than 200,000 adults go into cardiac arrest in a U.S. hospital setting every year? Less than 26 percent of “code blue” adult patients survive. High-quality CPR is the primary component that influences survival from a cardiac arrest.
These are shocking numbers, nurses! Doesn’t it make you want to save more lives and learn how to give CPR in the most effective way possible? How can we resuscitate patients in a way that will send more patients home, healthier and with their loved ones? This is where RQI 2020 comes in. Keep reading to hear all about this comprehensive, end-to-end resuscitation quality improvement program.
How will RQI 2020 Save Lives?
You are probably wondering how this program will save more lives from in-hospital cardiac arrest. When I first read about RQI 2020, I wanted to understand exactly how the quality of CPR was improved. RQI 2020 provides simulation-based mastery learning through low-dose, high-frequency quality improvement sessions that measure and verify competency, each time. Essentially, more frequent practice and verification of CPR competency!
The program simulates real patient cases for practice. Practice sessions are provided through these neat mobile Simulation Stations placed on every care floor. So, you practice in 10-minute sessions every 90 days on a ‘manikin’ and instantly refresh your CPR skills.)
The simulator helps the healthcare worker know if the compressions are effective or not. This should result in muscle memory and giving better CPR should become second nature. During a skills session or practice module, it will give the healthcare worker audio visual coaching throughout critical components of CPR.
What does this mean for Nurses?
I think the best part of this RQI 2020 program is that these skills practice sessions are saved. The data from a session is archived in an LMS. LMS is a Learning Management System that the program uses to document individual student performance!
I love this idea because you can track your own progress and see what you need to work on. I would have appreciated this program in the first few years of my nursing career. I was so scared of codes and giving CPR the wrong way. In addition to verifying competency, I think RQI will give nurses confidence in their skills.
It has been announced that if an individual is participating in the RQI 2020 program, they will receive RQI eCredentials to confirm their competence in high-quality CPR skills. These stay valid through every quarter of compliance when skills and knowledge must be demonstrated again. But, RQI makes it easy since the skills stations are on the hospital floor; that’s 24/7 access!
Gone will be the days of sitting in a dark sad classroom for hours every couple years along with pressure to renew your cards before the expiration date…or threats to be taken off the schedule!
This RQI program is a significant advancement in resuscitation quality and patient care in the U.S. hospital setting. This is a huge advancement for the nursing world! There have been so many changes in healthcare, a change for excellence is definitely something I can support.

As a nurse, I want to save more lives and sharpen my skills in the process. It’s all about improving patient outcomes. We all want to do our jobs more effectively and save more lives. It’s part of being a nurse, we want to give the best care! So, let’s embrace the changes that get us there!
I strongly believe RQI 2020 is a positive change to the nursing world, and I am proud to tell you all about it.
This post has been sponsored by the RQI® 2020 Launch, for the purpose of educating healthcare workers before full implementation. All options and commentary are my own. – #RQISavesLives #RQI2020
P.S. Please check out my article on “Tools for Successfully Managing Night Shift“. Night shift can be rough on the nurse and their loved ones! Here are a few tips to make life a whole lot easier!
Check out my course: HOW TO GIVE THE BEST REPORT.
The 8 Modules in this course teach you to:
– Initiate Report
– Courteous Tips the Next Shift Won’t Tell You
– Give Perfect Concise Report
– How to Call & Talk to Doctors
– How to Give Report to other Facilities
– How to Give Report when Going on Break
– How to Give Report to Other Floors




Advancements in health care are always a good thing! Thanks for sharing this Meg.
I am CPR certified and have been since I was 10 years old. I’m all for advancements and more ways to save lives. PS I didn’t know you were a nurse — duh me!!
I am currently out of work and I need to renew my ACLS & this is the first time hearing about this RQI 2020. My license expired 2021. How do I sign up or do you have to be associated with a hospital or other organization ?
Thank you
Lisa Williams
Excellent question! You can renew it on a few websites, but this one is the best in my opinion.
You can update your ACLS with the AHA without a hospital reference here online: https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1295011&u=1352894&m=84828&urllink=&afftrack=