ACLS

There's a lot to know, but I found it to be not too bad.

What helped me ace the test and get through it without feeling like a total idiot was reading carefully the AHA book. I read a little everyday for the week prior. The class is based on this book.

Good luck.

Not scary or bad experience at all. After I passed my NCLEX, I decided to take ACLS on my own to increase my marketability. My school program was great since they taught me heart rhythms well. I hope your school was the same. I still spent at least 5 day of reviewing all the material including rhythms, algorithms and did the online tests.

Good luck!

Memorize the algorithms and know the drugs and dosages. Study daily because its not something you can "cram".

And remember: basically they're dead...you can only go UP from there

It really isn't that bad . . . I took the class as a senior nursing student @ a local hospital. The group that taught it made the concepts fairly easy to grasp, so hopefully you'll get good instructors. They advise you to read the study materials & complete practice tests/questions before the class even starts. This is a good idea; however, the actual test at the conclusion of the course was not nearly as difficult as the content in the study guides - so don't stress too much! I haven't taken PALS yet, but will probably do so in the near future. Hope this helps! Good Luck

I found it not too bad either. I agree with Tweety. Get the AHA book and study that.

Bottem line: memorize your algorithms,EKG interpretations, and your drug dosages, and you are smooth sailing.

However, it would really benefit you to get to know the pathophysiology behind each ekg rhythm, and know your pharmacology really well about the drugs you will be using. Not only is it beneficial, but it can help you save a life!

Cory

Hi,

Along wit everything else review your adult one and two person CPR. You are teted on this again. High quality CPR is a must! It is a blast have fun but definatly read book and prepare in advance.:redbeathe

LOL, I just passed my megacode today! The class was 2 days for me and not bad at all. Study EPI, amiodarone, atropine, vasopressin, adenosine, and lidocaine. Know when you give them and at what dose. Also know the stroke protocol, which rhythms you defib for, which you pace, and which you cardiovert. If you study the AHA book and do the pretest you will be all good. Good luck!

I found that the information in the back of the AHA book was essential to read in order to pass the test.

These are the points I tell my students in ACLS:

1) you defib DEAD people

2) you cardiovert LIVE people

3) pace if to slow

4) if patient has a "dead" rhythym amiodarone is 300mg once then 15omg, if a "living" rhythym amiodarone dose is 150mg

5)MONA for heart attacks (morphine, oxygen, nitro, ASA)

Hope these help

Most ACLS classes I have "taken" aren't classes per se but testing and review sessions. You should know your ACLS treatment pathways forward and backward before you show up to the class. A good gauge is to do the pre test in the back of the ACLS text. If you do 90% or better you are OK for the class. If it is a foreign language to you , you are wasting a space in the class that someone else could use. As far as difficult, the first time I took it, I got through it OK on one very intense night of study with flashcards with a good friend. At the time I was 11 mos into practice and very GREEN. I would have done better if I spent an hour or two each day reviewing for a couple of weeks before the class. Either way you will learn drugs and skills you will use the rest of your career. I think in todays acute care enviornment ALL nurses should have ACLS. The days of POD 6 after an uneventful cholecystectomy are long gone. Acute care patients are much sicker than they were 15 years ago and nurses need to be prepaired for the worst with every patient.