ACLS class as a student? good or pointless?

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I will be graduating in May with my BSN in nursing. I don't have any healthcare experience at all, except maybe volunteering years ago. I was in the military 4yrs ago (so I have that experience). A lot of other students are working in healthcare and I'm not. I was thinking of taking an acls certification class in a few weeks. I really wanted to take the pals certification class (well both of them) since i hope to work in peds but the pals is a little more expensive. Anyway, I was hoping this would help build my resume. Any thoughts?????

Next employers will want you to start paying for your own orientation/training. It's ridiculous; where does it end?

Yes, employers do pay for these classes- but in a saturated market if I were the manager I'm not spending additional funds when there are new grads available who have already taken initiative and gotten their certifications.

Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)

Next employers will want you to start paying for your own orientation/training. It's ridiculous; where does it end?

They already do- sort of. My coworker in L&D paid for her own L&D seminar and if my hospital doesn't send me I'm willing to pay the $500 for an ER class. It's what you do to get the job you want. How much will you sacrifice to be more appealing?

Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)

If you view this as acceptable behavior for employers, you're part of the problem that enables them.

They already do- sort of. My coworker in L&D paid for her own L&D seminar and if my hospital doesn't send me I'm willing to pay the $500 for an ER class. It's what you do to get the job you want. How much will you sacrifice to be more appealing?

Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)

If you view this as acceptable behavior for employers, you're part of the problem that enables them.

Well, it's not like you were able to give me a job where I wanted, so you do what you've gotta do. And as of right now there are bigger problems than this. You want a job--THE JOB-- as a new grad? You do what you've got to do.

Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)

Specializes in ED, trauma.
If you view this as acceptable behavior for employers, you're part of the problem that enables them.

I'm sorry...enables them?

This is a nursing shortage remember? There are jobs everywhere, RIGHT?!

Oh. Wait. No. There aren't jobs everywhere and new grads are being paid dirt in positions they hate. If I can stand out and "enable" a hospital to hire me over someone else....it's survival of the fittest and fattest resume boosting certifications. And I will not be sorry when I use those things to stand out and get a job while 60% of my class can't get a job in LTC due to over saturation of the market with new grad nurses.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

Specializes in School nursing.

Yes, take the class if you can afford it. And if not, I'd save for it.

I got my ACLS certification right after getting my RN license (almost took it right before getting my RN, but had a class conflict); the job I got didn't require it, but they were impressed with my initiative. Two of my friends took it with me at the end and one of them definitely earned a job from it as a new grad nurse in a competitive MA market - in fact she told me how they commented on her initiative as well.

Not to mention you learn a lot from it and in my state (MA) nurses receive 15 contact hours for the course that you need to get every two years anyway. Win-win for a new graduate or soon-to-be graduate. When I took the course, there were two nursing students in their last semester in my group.

Specializes in CICU.

In my state, CEU's are not required for the first renewal.

Specializes in ER.

ACLS is a difficult course unless you have actually been in several codes and have some idea how they are run, and a concept of the drugs being used. That being said, it is certainly not impossible to learn.

I wanted to work in L&D, so I got my NRP and STABLE while I was waiting for my ATT for NCLEX. I think it helped me get my first job! The hospital I work at would have paid for it after I was hired, however I'm not sure I would have been hired without it. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Ran across this older thread and wondered if things have changed.

With the current large surplus of health care personnel in my area, nearly all nursing positions and even most openings for UAPs state that both ACLS & PALS are required to apply. Essentially, employers have now shifted the burden of the cost of certification to applicants which has the benefit of both reducing their expenses and, with many of them also teaching the courses for $300 - $500, also increasing their revenue stream.

Unfair perhaps but consistent with the laws of supply and demand.

If you view this as acceptable behavior for employers, you're part of the problem that enables them.

Even though people are getting upset about this comment, it is somewhat true. Not everyone has $300-$500 readily available to spend on their 'dream job'. Although ACLS and PALS are not officially required, many acute care employers are "impressed" by them, and in this job market that pretty much means it is a requirement. That said, if all the new grad nurses across the country said "no, I refuse to spend hundreds of dollars on training that my employer should cover", then employers wouldn't expect it.

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