Aims and objectives: To describe the nurses' experiences of performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation in intensive care units.

Background: Research in the area of resuscitation is primarily concentrated on medical and biophysical aspects. The subjective experiences of those who perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and their emotions are more seldom addressed. Design: Qualitative descriptive design.

Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used (n = 8). Data were analysed with content analysis.

Results: Three categories describe the experiences of nurses: training and precardiopulmonary resuscitation; chaos and order during cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and debriefing postcardiopulmonary resuscitation. The study results indicate that the health care staff find it necessary to practice cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as it provides them with a basic feeling of security when applying it in actual situations.

Conclusion: We argue that postcardiopulmonary resuscitation debriefing must be viewed in the light of its eigenvalue with a specific focus on the staff's experiences and emotions, and not only on the intention of identifying errors.

Relevance to clinical practice: Debriefing is of the utmost importance for the nurses. Clinical leaders may make use of the findings of this study to introduce debriefing forums as a possible standard clinical procedure.