It shouldn't be this hard to do ACLS!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

I am having a devil of a time trying to find an ACLS refresher course in the State of Connecticut. Even though I worked in the ICU my hospital did not require ACLS and my certification expired recently. Now I have suddenly found myself out of a job and need to recertify to get another ICU job. I have called every hospital in CT. Either they don't currently have a class of the next one is scheduled months away. I have even called AHA and they can only give me phone numbers, not actual course dates. I have even tried to find out about the Heartcode online certification but not only is it nearly impossible to find it to buy on their website, but it will need a skills test at an approved AHA training center and nobody says they will do it! Why is this so hard? If this is a requirement to do my job why is it harder than getting into Fort Knox? This is crazy! I want to just do the aclsonline.com one but I don't know if this is accepted as reputable. It looks like I will have to take any old job until I can recertify sometime in the fall. I am tearing my hair out! :madface:

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

Hey...do what I did! I called our local paramedic and fire departments and asked when theirs are and if I could take it with them. I found that my local paramedic company (my hubby works for) has a department that teaches it once a month for all healthcare workers that wish to join in!

Hope that is helpful :)

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Specializes in Home Health Case Mgr.

Hi, recert online.....go to www.aclsonline.us Many of my coworkers have taken this online course and recerted...

Hope this helps..

CL

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Specializes in Emergency.

You are probably having a hard time finding a class because of the changes currently being implemented. For example my local facility is requiring staff to go to the whole 2 day class if we renew there.

As far as requiring ACLS before hire most hospitals are so short nurses that the norm has been to require it within the first 3-6 months of hire. Personally I would talk with the ICU managers and not HR about this.

RJ

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I had the same problem when I lived in CT. I was even an ACLS instructor and couldn't find a place to teach--so I lost my hard-earned instructor certification. When I tried to find a provider certification class, it was like pulling teeth.

Sponsor Hospital in New Haven might have some classes. Have you done a Google for ACLS in CT? American Heart Association will only give you names of CTCs, not actual classes.

I moved to another state and just got my ACLS last week. Had quite a few places to choose from when picking a class, and got in on short notice.

As far as the online course, you still have to find someone to sign you off on the hands-on. That's just about as hard as finding a class in CT. There are a lot of online courses that are "based on" AHA guidelines, but they're not actually AHA-approved. Be careful.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

hello, rocknurse,

check here:

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000 find by state acls/bls/pals

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.
Hey...do what I did! I called our local paramedic and fire departments and asked when theirs are and if I could take it with them. I found that my local paramedic company (my hubby works for) has a department that teaches it once a month for all healthcare workers that wish to join in!

Hope that is helpful :)

That's a really good idea! Thanks...I'll remember that!

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.
Hi, recert online.....go to www.aclsonline.us Many of my coworkers have taken this online course and recerted...

Hope this helps..

CL

Thanks...I actually did that today out of frustration. Only thing is I don't know if it will bec accepted by a facility but I'll try. I passed and asked for my card to be express shipped overnight. We'll see if it was worth the money. The exam was quite hard actually.

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.
I had the same problem when I lived in CT. I was even an ACLS instructor and couldn't find a place to teach--so I lost my hard-earned instructor certification. When I tried to find a provider certification class, it was like pulling teeth.

Sponsor Hospital in New Haven might have some classes. Have you done a Google for ACLS in CT? American Heart Association will only give you names of CTCs, not actual classes.

I moved to another state and just got my ACLS last week. Had quite a few places to choose from when picking a class, and got in on short notice.

As far as the online course, you still have to find someone to sign you off on the hands-on. That's just about as hard as finding a class in CT. There are a lot of online courses that are "based on" AHA guidelines, but they're not actually AHA-approved. Be careful.

That's exactly the experience I had today! I called pretty much everyone and no one is willing to sign off the skills part. You would really think that someone would make it easier to certify. Maybe there's a business opportunity there! I searched online and called a bunch of hospitals but they either didn't have a class lines up or it was in October. I need it now!

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.
hello, rocknurse,

check here:

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000 find by state acls/bls/pals

that link went to some cookbooks, but i think i know the page you meant. i did find the heartstart software but the trouble is finding a training center to sign off on your skills test. there's no one to do it!

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Specializes in Med-Tele, ICU.
That's a really good idea! Thanks...I'll remember that!

This is how I am getting ACLS certified too. American Medical Response has a class that I am attending in July. Our hospital had a class scheduled June 8-9 (and I had specifically asked off those days to attend!!) and then that got postponed until next week and I will be on vacation :angryfire (Destin, Florida....woo hoo!! ). A couple of other hospitals near where I live are also having theirs next week too!! And one hospital told me that they issues just getting their own employees certified (not enough classroom space...classes fill up too quickly), much less certifying non-employees! :madface:

I feel your pain!! Hope it all works out for ya!

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So glad I found this. I live in CT and am having this same issue. But, I did work a couple of years in WV where they were pretty strict about these certifications. They hired me with no problem because they, and others, hold these classes for their staff. I was certified in everything within months. So, this might be the case here in CT. Good luck.

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