ACLS CEU's?

[muchachada_16]

I'm a RN in Pennsylvania & received my ACLS certification in-class in October from a local Philadelphia area hospital. Now according to some other RN's who have taken the classes, we are eligible for CEU's. According to the site where I took the calss, they do not give out CEU's for ACLS.; though I also took the class w/ EMT's & they received CEU's. I have called the AHA, PA state board of nursing & the hospital where I took the class & have been getting varying answers. Why aren't RN's eligible for these important CEU's? I also had to pay for the class & studied the same information as the EMT's.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

You do get CE for the first time you take it. I'm in PA and got it for ACLS and PALS.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

AHA certification of an approved ACLS class is separate from whether or not that particular provider is approved by that state board of nursing as a provider of CEUs. EMS continuing education is also separate, as their certification is from the state dept. of health, not the state board of nursing.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Ohh, that's good to know. I must have taken a class that offers the ceus.

[muchachada_16]

So it was my initial class that I took at Jeffstat at Jefferson in Philadelphia & they are still giving me the same answer & no credits. Apparently there is a difference in the AHA in-class & online portion. I was told you get credit for the on-line class, even though if you choose this option you still have to go in & demonstrate on the mannequins, but there are no CEU's for the in-class portion. This is really sad & someone should be regulating this across the board so someone can give a straight 'yes RN's get whatever amount of CEU's' or 'no you don't.' If I would have known no CEU's were being offered, I would have went somewhere else & paid that chunk of money. This is crazy!

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

The provider of the class has to request approval to award contact hours (what you are calling CEU's). If they did not request that privilege from the agency or organization who grants them, then the provider of the class cannot award you any contact hours. It is not done through AHA. For instance, we offer ACLS to non-employees and award 12 contact hours for the class. NOT the renewal class, because in Texas, where I live, the renewals are not acceptable for continuing education. Our contact hours are awarded through the Texas Nurses Association, and EMT's and others can use them for their certifications. Our employees are required to take ACLS via Healthstream, online. Healthstream awards them contact hours, not TNA and not AHA. So, the bottom line is the contact hours are awarded by entities who do not provide the class and if the provider does not request them you don't get them.