Arrhythmia Assessment for new job

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So I’ve been a nurse for a little over a year and I recently moved states. My new job said I would be doing a arrhythmia assessment at my new hire appointment. This is not something I had to do for my last job but I guess it is the norm in this state. I asked if it should wait until after I had my acls class and they said I didn’t need acls for my position. Which I found surprising in itself since I would be working off the ER and required to read my own telemety monitors. Anyways I studied basic arrhythmias and some cardiac info and went to take the assessment. It was extremely detailed and difficult, like no arrhythmia assessment I have taken before, in nursing school or otherwise. I did not do well at all. So my question is, is this a normal thing at hospitals? Also could I lose the job for doing so awful on it? I literally had to leave some parts blank. My EKG interpretation teaching in nursing school consisted of one day. And I never read my own strips at my previous job, I was in no way prepared for this.

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Specializes in ER OR LTC Code Blue Trauma Dog.

Why even conduct such testing if there's no preparation mechanism for providing the required educational support for anyone?

Do you have a nurse educator at this facility? Isn't it their job role function to provide nurses with the necessary resources and training options for things they need to do their jobs?

Otherwise, consider taking a course and getting a certification credential.

https://www.aacn.org/education/online-courses/basic-ecg-interpretation

If they expect EKG interpretation certification to be a job requirement, then they need to clearly communicate that information during the hiring process. No point in hiring people only to set them up at a later time for failure with a "test" they know nothing about.

This is easily resolved by ensuring the employees they are hiring are getting the necessary support and educational opportunities they need at this facility.

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These were my exact thoughts on this. I am just very confused by the process. At no point during the hiring process was this mentioned. I don't understand the point of testing me before training me. I never claimed to have ACLS or experience of this kind. I hope they will direct me to a class following my dismal performance on this test.

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