Acls

[His_girl]

I graduate in Dec. and am required to become ACLS certified. I don't start orientation until Jan. I was wondering if there are websites you would suggest on prepping me for the ACLS. I would not be so concerned and just take the classes, but every nurse I talk to (senior nurses at that) are terrified every time they have to get recertified. I was also wondering if you could give me any tips.

Thanks a lot

[Eirene, ASN, RN]

Click here for a pretty cool website.

I would take a basic dysrhythmia course through your employer (if they offer it). It helps so much identiftying rhythms.

I don't recommend taking ACLS right out of school. I think it's smart to get your feet wet as a new nurse if your employer has the resouces for you to actually wait. It's scary enough being a new grad-- let alone a new grad running a code (our nurses often do this when a physician isn't available).

That's just my !

[caliotter3]

I was required to take an EKG course prior to the ACLS course. I found it to be helpful since I had been out of school for such a long time and didn't have job experience with this. There are books on ACLS and EKG interpretation that you can buy. As was suggested to me, get at least one of these books and memorize the basic rhythms before you attempt the class.

[ZooMommyRN, ADN, RN]

I took the ACLS & EKG class before I even took boards, I took it for knowledge not because I want to run the codes, maybe someday but not now lol I learned alot and because I have ACLS I can also float to ICU or ER if med/surg census gets low

[neeniebean]

On my unit (telemetry), they want you to have at least 6 months RN experience before taking it.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Definitely take the basic telemetry class first. While you can easily pass ACLS through rote memorization, it's far better to understand why you are doing something then to just go with the "if then" approach.

[queenjean]

I'd recommend waiting for a while. In my institution, anyhow, once you are ACLS certified, there are certain expectations. If a code is called on my floor, all ACLS certified nurses on that floor run the code until the code team gets there. That means we are in charge of getting CPR intitated (not a big deal), hooking up the pt to the crash cart (not a big deal), interpreting the rhthym and delivering a shock if appropriate (a bigger deal).

Are you ready to take responsibility for determining what rhythm the pt is in, and shocking if appropriate?

Some hospitals have no expectation on ACLS nurses, and I would like to see our hospital move to this. I would like to see our hospital have 100% ACLS certification of all nursing staff.

So, before you enroll, find out what your responsibilities will be (if any) after you become certified.

Here is a great website for rhythm strip practice:

http://www.skillstat.com/learn.htm