BLS and RQI - Can't do it

[Brae30]

I'm just finishing my second year in nursing. I just took an ACLS class through my hospital and was recertified. I completed the online BLS portion but had to use the hospital RQI mannequin to complete the BLS. I fought for an hour trying to get my compressions deep enough to complete even just the CPR portion. I failed every single time and hurt myself in the process. 75% is the passing. I only made 43% at the maximum. I was literally in tears and shaking when I had to admit defeat. I had to go out and do an outside course in order to complete my BLS. However, I've been told that in the near future that my hospital is going to be only using these horrific mannequins and RQI in order to complete BLS. I don't know if the mannequin was faulty or I have just a very weak upper body strength (which I do) but I fear the future. I fear that I will be suspended and not be able to work as a nurse because of the stupid BLS recertification mannequin. Has anyone else experience this? What was your solution? I went through too much with nursing school and I'm in so much debt from nursing school. I can't lose my job because of this RQI nonsense. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

Can you take a BLS course outside the hospital? 

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

FiremedicMike said:

I'm going to come from a different perspective.

The major focus for the last several years from the AHA is that high quality CPR with minimal interruptions is THE single deciding factor for patient outcome.  qCPR mannequins and their internal sensors are designed to mimic typical resistances found and measure rate, depth, and recoil. 
 

For years we had no real way to evaluate this and folks were being given CPR cards despite weak compressions, poor rates, and long pauses.  Now these folks have a standard they're being measured against and many are failing.  On top of that, the human factor of a "nice" CPR instructor just trying to help some fiends out is over and you have a cold, emotionless computer that will ensure the student understands what high quality CPR feels like.

 

That's a very good point--all healthcare workers, regardless of practice area, should be prepared to provide high-quality CPR, and hopefully advances in technology can help with that.

My issue is that the RQI mannequins are often defective or stored in less-than-ideal conditions (like on surfaces that aren't flat). Since RQI requires people to renew 4x per year instead of every 2 years, the mannequins see 8x the wear and tear of normal BLS mannequins. In my experience, their airways get screwed up very quickly, to the point where you have to hyperextend their necks off the end of the table to get in a breath.

I think that technology can support us in practicing actual high-quality CPR, but to do so the technology actually has to work...

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

A couple years ago the hospital system switched from AHA to Red Cross RQI mannequins. I could do the compressions and keep them in the target circle, but the ventilations were either to shallow or too deep. It seemed like it was 1/16 inch difference between too shallow and too deep. After 5 attempts, the evaluator got an old stiff AMBU bag and I passed on the first try.