Can a new grad get their PALS & NRP?

Nurses New Nurse

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I graduated this May and took a job in a medical foster home as a pediatric private duty nurse. Once I get six months of experience in I'd like to start searching for a pediatric or obstetric nursing position in a hospital. I was thinking of getting my PALS & NRP to make myself more marketable. I was told by a co-worker to not even bother getting those certs since I don't have the experience necessary to pass. He suggested I take an ECG course and get my ACLS first, then maybe go for PALS/NRP. Not a bad idea I suppose but that all sounds very expensive. What are your opinions? Would it be possible for me to get PALS and NRP or should I try to go for all of the certs?

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Specializes in NICU.

I would suggest taking an EKG class to understand and recognize the rhythms. It will be very difficult to pass ACLS or PALS without a good understanding of the rhythms. I took ACLS over Spring Break of my last semester and passed, but I have extensive background in EKG.

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Specializes in ICU.

Learn basic ecg recognition first before getting certifications like acls and pals

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Good advice. Although there isn't really any particular experience pre-requisite for these types of certifications, success would be very difficult without mastery of the underlying content - EKG, pharmacology, and a comfort level with the types of equipment that is involved. These courses also require that you 'apply' knowledge and skills to a clinical scenario. This would be very challenging if you are not comfortable with patient care yet.

Best of luck to you on moving ahead in your career

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