AHA BLS Provider vs. AHA BLS for Healthcare Providers?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in NICU.

Hello!

I'm currently about to renew my BLS and I had a question for those of you with experience. Two years ago, I went through the AHA's course titled "BLS for Healthcare Providers." When I went on the site to sign up for a class, I noticed that there are many classes titled "BLS Provider." Has the course title been renamed or is this a different class? I know this may seem like a silly question, but I just want to make sure I sign up for the right course.

Thank you!

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

They are different classes- one for those who work in healthcare and one for laypeople. You'll need to take one for healthcare providers.

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Specializes in NICU.
They are different classes- one for those who work in healthcare and one for laypeople. You'll need to take one for healthcare providers.

Thank you for your reply! I just realized that the BLS for Healthcare Providers was being offered by the Red Cross while the Providers class was being offered by AHA. My previous card is from the AHA and titled Healthcare Provider. Does this change your answer at all?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Then I would clarify with your employer as to which course you should take, especially since Red Cross is good for one year (at least the last time I took one of their classes) while the AHA one is good for two years. Are these courses not offered by your employer?

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.

I just went to the AHA website and reviewed the courses myself - I do recall the course having "Healthcare Provider" in its title; however, it appears that BLS is now the one for healthcare professionals and the "Heartsaver" courses (CPR, First Aid, AED and a variety of combinations) are for lay people.

As for Red Cross - I have recently taken this course and I think it is inferior and behind in evidence-based practice knowledge; also, every healthcare system I know either requires or accepts AHA whereas few will accept ARC courses in lieu of AHA.

When in doubt, AHA - if you ever go for ACLS or PALS it is much easier to achieve that with AHA.

**this poster is not affiliated with the American Heart Association**

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Specializes in NICU.
Then I would clarify with your employer as to which course you should take, especially since Red Cross is good for one year (at least the last time I took one of their classes) while the AHA one is good for two years. Are these courses not offered by your employer?

I am a new hire GN and they told me that as my certification would expire before my start date, I would have to get it redone beforehand. I sent an email requesting clarification to the person assisting me with the new hire process, but they are away until April 18th so I wanted to get some more opinions on the matter. Thank you again!

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Specializes in NICU.
I just went to the AHA website and reviewed the courses myself - I do recall the course having "Healthcare Provider" in its title; however, it appears that BLS is now the one for healthcare professionals and the "Heartsaver" courses (CPR, First Aid, AED and a variety of combinations) are for lay people.

As for Red Cross - I have recently taken this course and I think it is inferior and behind in evidence-based practice knowledge; also, every healthcare system I know either requires or accepts AHA whereas few will accept ARC courses in lieu of AHA.

When in doubt, AHA - if you ever go for ACLS or PALS it is much easier to achieve that with AHA.

**this poster is not affiliated with the American Heart Association**

Thank you so much for your input! I think I will go with AHA to be safe.

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Specializes in Stepdown . Telemetry.

It HAS to be AHA approved. At least in the us. Red cross may offer the aha courses. The website will have the little aha emblem on it. Bc this is the only certifying body for hc providers.

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It HAS to be AHA approved. At least in the us. Red cross may offer the aha courses. The website will have the little aha emblem on it. Bc this is the only certifying body for hc providers.

No, BLS does not have to be American Heart Association (AHA) approved.” The AHA published the 2015 American Heart Association Guidelines Update for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care, which included Part 5: Adult Basic Life Support and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Quality, as well as Part 11: Pediatric Basic Life Support and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Quality. From these guidelines, they subsequently developed their BLS programs. Other agencies or organizations were also free to develop their own courses based upon these guidelines. I know that several organizations developed their own BLS based upon the 2010 BLS guidelines, and while I am not personally aware of any that have done so based upon the most release, I don't doubt that there will be.

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I just went to the AHA website and reviewed the courses myself - I do recall the course having "Healthcare Provider" in its title; however, it appears that BLS is now the one for healthcare professionals and the "Heartsaver" courses (CPR, First Aid, AED and a variety of combinations) are for lay people.

As for Red Cross - I have recently taken this course and I think it is inferior and behind in evidence-based practice knowledge; also, every healthcare system I know either requires or accepts AHA whereas few will accept ARC courses in lieu of AHA.

When in doubt, AHA - if you ever go for ACLS or PALS it is much easier to achieve that with AHA.

**this poster is not affiliated with the American Heart Association**

Quoting for truth. I've been BLS certified through the Red Cross for years, just recently re-certified, but the school I've applied to requires AHA. I've been going through the online portion of their training and it's a night and day difference.

Even the ARC classroom session had an instructor who was diligently teaching what the ARC wanted, then explaining to us why we shouldn't do that using information found nowhere in ARC's information but is plentiful in AHA's.

At this point I *think* I've selected the right AHA course, though I'm not sure why they titled the non-professional certifications HeartSaver and the blended-online portion of the professional certifications HeartCode. And why when selecting a specific class am I brought to a website where I have to re-select the correct class but this time without descriptions.

A rhetorical questions, because I know you aren't affiliated with the American Heart Association.

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I am a new hire GN and they told me that as my certification would expire before my start date, I would have to get it redone beforehand. I sent an email requesting clarification to the person assisting me with the new hire process, but they are away until April 18th so I wanted to get some more opinions on the matter. Thank you again!

There's a good chance this is a problem your fellow students are finding as well. Maybe ask with your school?

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Specializes in OMFS, Dentistry.
Hello!

I'm currently about to renew my BLS and I had a question for those of you with experience. Two years ago, I went through the AHA's course titled "BLS for Healthcare Providers." When I went on the site to sign up for a class, I noticed that there are many classes titled "BLS Provider." Has the course title been renamed or is this a different class? I know this may seem like a silly question, but I just want to make sure I sign up for the right course.

Thank you!

There are new 2015 AHA guidelines. The new one went into effect April 2016: and all cards are now standard

http://cpr.heart.org/idc/groups/ahaecc-public/@wcm/@ecc/documents/downloadable/ucm_483580.pdf

Here is the link to the AHA memo sent out February 2016

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