ACLS in telemetry or intermediate care units

[cardiacnurse9063]

What are your hospital or unit policies or norms for the percentage of ACLS nurses on any given shift when ACLS is required for your unit.

For example, I manage a 12 bed intermediate care unit. ACLS is required for my nurses. When we have sick calls the float pool nurses that cover the unit do not have ACLS. I'm wondering if there are other units in this same situation and what percentage of non-ACLS trained nurses would be appropriate and safe for patient care?

Thanks!

[bklynbaby]

In my hospital if your unit requires ACLS then everyone must be up to date with their ACLS, if ACLS expires you get a suspension and go home. Im not sure how it works if a nurse is floated. However usually when a nurse gets floated it would have to be in the same area of practice so chances are the float would also have been ACLS certified. Im not sure if there is a policy in place in cases in which the float nurse is not ACLS certfifed.

[Lidlsadie]

On my unit, all nurses are required to have ACLS & have it up-to-date. For new graduates, you must take it within 1 year (though they usually bug you to take it within the first 5-6 months).

The only exception is with our float nurses (and even then they are often ACLS certified as well). At most we will have 1-2 nurses out of 6+ that MAY be uncertified.

[destin3g99]

I'm not sure what our percentage was. It varied widely. At times there was only one RN on the floor (15 beds) with all LPNs and new RN grads. RNs got ACLS as soon as the class roled around again. Whoever was charge nurse for the shift had to respond to codes/rapid responses. So if they left that left nobody on the floor with ACLS. There were times when I had to be charge before I even had ACLS, but at that time the code response was given to another floor charge to respond to. Not exactly safe.