Asls

No, I'm talking about Advanced Stroke Life Support. I believe it's a very new course- I took it on Wednesday, which was the second time it was offered at my hospital. It's an eight hour course detailing prehospital and hospital care of the stroke pt. It introduces the MEND exam (Miami Emergency Neuro Deficit exam) instead of the usual hand grip/leg strength/pupil exam that is most commonly done. The new exam is more comprehensive but is still a quick exam, less subjective than the hand grip/leg strength, where every nurse may not agree as to what is strong vs. weak. The house supervisor is trying to get the ER nurses and stroke unit nurses to take the course because although we get all the stroke alerts in the county, we are not a stroke center, and apparently this course is part of the accreditation (sp?) process.

(It's out of the University of Miami; www.asls.net )