ACLS for Labor Nurses?

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How many of you are required to be ACLS certified to work on L&D?

Is the course a worthwhile investment?

If your OB nurses are NOT ACLS, what are your standards for recovery of C/S patients?

Thank you for your input.

Specializes in OB, lactation.

We don't have to have it, although I initially thought we did. I guess we are to make due until the rapid response team arrives.

We had a mother code about 2 months ago (while nurses were already working on a very early, not-going-to-make-it type baby, no less). It was right before I started my job.

We do not have 24 hour coverage for MD's/anesthesia.

We don't recover c/s patients.

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Specializes in OB, lactation.
Has anyone taken the ALSO course? (Advanced Life Support for Obstetrics) It seems it would be much more appropriate for L&D nurses.

sounds interesting

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Specializes in L&D,Wound Care, SNC.
. I never used it enough to be anywhere NEAR competent really---and that scared me as much as not knowing it does now. Catch-22.

I completely agree. I have ACLS since our manager wanted the RN's to have it. However that was in Jan of this year. I have never had a pt code on me (THANK GOD). Honestly the only thing I remeber is the algorithm for VFIB. However when I took ACLS there were several nurses from our unit attending and I don't remember the instructors saying anything about not giving amiodarone to a pregnant patient.

We do recover our own c/s even with general anesthesia. The only exception is with eclamptic patients who present actively seizing. Once they are stable enough they come up to us for a stat c/s. They stay on a vent for a period of time. When that happens they go up to ICU and recover there. However the other day this happend and an ICU bed was not immediatly available so we we applied a bair hugger and she stayed in the OR until her hour of q 15 min fundal checks were done while our CRNA maintained her on the vent. Then she went to PACU and we had to send a nurse down there to check her fundus until an ICU bed opened up. I don't know why non ob-gyn nurses are so scared of the fundus! :rolleyes:

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Specializes in L&D,- Mother/Baby.

For anyone interested in finding out more about the ALSO course, here is a link.

http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/cme/aafpcourses/clinicalcourses/also/aboutalso.html

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Specializes in LDRP.

I looked at the ALSO site, and found this quiz

http://www.aafp.org/cgi-bin/quiz.pl?gid=1350&op=show_quiz

you can take the 31 question, mult choice quiz, then have it scored. You can't see the rationales or have your quiz count for anything unless you are registered somewhere for something. Butyou can take it, and see how you did and what hte correct answer is if you got it wrong.

i got 26 out of 31 right (but i've only been in OB 1 month!)

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Specializes in Behavioral Health.

We, too, are required to obtain ACLS in L&D as we recover all our own c-sections. I have unfortunately called a code in L&D when my patient went into a heart block (discovered later during the c-section) when she received Fentanyl during a labor epidural...

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I had to do it, I too felt stupid and looked down on as I knew NOTHING about EKG strips etc, why would I as a peds and Ob nurse? It's not much use as I was taught enough to get through the test at the time but not much of it actually stuck.

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During the last 2 years we've been required to be ACLS certified, only L&D nurses, not strict mother/baby RN's. It is a pretty terrifying class to go through, it's like learning a new language! It's one of those things that you need to learn but hope to never have to use.

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