Are Online ACLS/BLS Certifications Valid?

[colli646]

I'm interested in receiving my ACLS and BLS Certifications and I was wondering if receiving an online certification is considered valid. Obviously there are things that the courses contain that would benefit to learn in-person, but if it came down to it, and I had to do the courses online (due to busy schedule), would these certifications be valid for places like a hospital?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

A

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Most places are going to require hands on skills portions to have been completed. If it's a hybrid course where you complete modules and take an exam online but have to demonstrate hands on skills in a classroom, then it MAY be accepted (definitely no guarantee that it will be). However, most facilities will offer CPR training at little or no cost to employees.

[chare]

The American Heart Association offers hybrid courses for ACLS, BLS, and PALS. In each of these courses you complete the didactic portion online. After completing the online portion of the course, you find a training center that will complete the skills check off. As there is no distinction between any of these AHA hybrid courses and the traditional course, you should not have any issue with an employer accepting any of these AHA courses.

If you are considering trying one of these courses, you can use the AHA Find a Course to locate a training center to complete the skills evaluation. I would suggest you locate a training center prior to enrolling for the on-line portion as not all training centers provide this service. Also, if you do find a training center, it is likely that they will have a service charge as well, in addition to the course enrollment fee.

There are several other organizations that offer ACLS, BLS, and PALS in both hybrid and traditional formats. While some of these are excellent courses, before you enroll in one of these, you might consider contacting local facilities in your area and ask if they are accepted.

[PG2018]

Funny. I was just Googling for online AHA renewal courses and found this thread. I'm sick of hands on work. I've been taking AHA CPR for 18 years, and mine lapses at the end of the month. I'm totally content with this but the nursing board likes (read: requires) us nursey folks to have it when we renew RN/APRN (which I won't have to do for a year and a half). Regarding CPR, bad CPR is better than no CPR so the fact that ongoing certs are required is a bit ludicrous to me.

Peculiarly, circa 2004, I found a totally online ACLS course that when completed resulted in an ACLS card showing up in the mail. All that was required was a really ******* hard multiple guess test. Two years later, I did it again and the old bait and switch left me with some kind of generic ACLS scut. I took ACLS off and on for 14 years or so and am glad I don't need that crap anymore. I only took PALS once, online, and the modules were so exasperating I seriously considered calling employee assistance.