CPR Instructor

OldDude · Jan 29, 2019

I was a CPR instructor many years ago. It wasn't something I enjoyed and I've never renewed my certification. But...some people like doing that. I didn't have the patience.

KeeperOfTheIceRN, ADN · Jan 29, 2019

29 minutes ago, OldDude said:
I was a CPR instructor many years ago. It wasn't something I enjoyed and I've never renewed my certification. But...some people like doing that. I didn't have the patience.

You know, its not anything I've done before but I *think* I would enjoy it. I'm trying to find ways to make myself "more valuable" to my school and this sounded like something that would be easy to integrate into my job duties.

AdobeRN · Jan 29, 2019

All of our district nurses are required to be certified so we can teach the staff on our campus that needs CPR/FA. I personally do not care for it and only teach the required 4 classes/2 years to keep up with the required certification. Plus side of it is that we do get paid a stipend whenever we teach but for me that little stipend is still not worth the time/headache of all the paperwork/setup etc.

UrbanHealthRN, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2019

I considered becoming an instructor when I started my current job, and it was for a lot of the same reasons that you have, Keeper. I changed my mind after learning about how long it would take to complete the instructor certification process- there's training, observation, teaching evaluation, plus you often need to affiliate with an established CPR instruction group for legal/professional reasons. All of these things are certainly doable, and plenty of people successfully become instructors each year. At this point, though, I just feel like there's so many other things I have to do for my job, this would take up too much of my time.

KeeperOfTheIceRN, ADN · Jan 29, 2019

30 minutes ago, UrbanHealthRN said:
I considered becoming an instructor when I started my current job, and it was for a lot of the same reasons that you have, Keeper. I changed my mind after learning about how long it would take to complete the instructor certification process- there's training, observation, teaching evaluation, plus you often need to affiliate with an established CPR instruction group for legal/professional reasons. All of these things are certainly doable, and plenty of people successfully become instructors each year. At this point, though, I just feel like there's so many other things I have to do for my job, this would take up too much of my time.

31 minutes ago, AdobeRN said:
All of our district nurses are required to be certified so we can teach the staff on our campus that needs CPR/FA. I personally do not care for it and only teach the required 4 classes/2 years to keep up with the required certification. Plus side of it is that we do get paid a stipend whenever we teach but for me that little stipend is still not worth the time/headache of all the paperwork/setup etc.

I honestly have no idea what to expect from it. My contact I've spoke (briefly) with didn't go into a lot of detail on how its done. She just said you come in for your training, then you'll have a monitor class which will lead to your class you teach and then thats it. I knew there had to be more involved with it. I wasn't even sure what all I needed to ask her!

pedi_nurse · Jan 29, 2019

All our nurses in our district are required to be CPR instructors as well. I had been toying with the idea prior to coming to this district, so it's nice that was their requirement. They pay for certification and provide any training equipment needed. My clinic did have some of the older manikins. However, now it's required that you use feedback manikins for skills check offs and those are much more expensive. Our large, wealthier district only purchased 10 (we have about 75 school), and we rent them out as needed from the district office.

grammy1 · Jan 30, 2019

I'm a cpr/first aid instructor. I actually enjoy teaching the classes. Our school district has the manikins, but I also have my own because I teach outside of school. I teach employees at a couple of assisted living facilities and after 2 classes got back what I had paid out plus some.

When I taught at school, the district reimbursed for supplies (cards, books, etc), that I used for the classes.

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2019

I was and it was super-useful because I always had trained staff (since I trained them!)

But you'll need the appropriate manikins and supplies - the old manikins with no electronic "feedback" on depth of compression are apparently no longer compliant. Call your local AHA chapter and get a ballpark figure for how much it would cost you. You also have to be retrained as an instructor every other year so there's cost to that as well. Good luck!

Flare, ASN, BSN · Jan 30, 2019

i am one for the time being. i get my supplies through aed superstore.com, the books and videos and cards i get through the company that processes my cards. I think when my instructorship is getting ready to expire i'm just going to get a regular certification for myself. I don't have enough clients to sustain my little "business" and the AHA keeps adding annoying conditions when teaching classes - the latest buzz is to get expensive mannequins with visual feedback. I don't have money or enough business to justify going on.

KeeperOfTheIceRN, ADN · Jan 30, 2019

Thank you all for your responses! I really appreciate your insights!!!

MisRN · Jan 31, 2019

I am in a small private school and when I was interviewing for this position, they had asked if I would be willing to get certified as an instructor. Many years before I had it so I didn't think twice about it. I think it ran about $400 for the instructor course (maybe $450) which my school paid for. What they didn't realize is that we need supplies that ran close to $1800 for 2 sets of mannequins, masks, trainer AEDs, books, etc... The other option was to rent the equipment about $100/day. Finally after 2.5 years, they agreed to purchase the equipment. I do First Aid and CPR, so it takes the full school day. I have to arrange for a sub nurse to come in and cover my office. The faculty all have to arrange for a professional development day & sub coverage as well.

I enjoy teaching CPR so it's worth it, and of course it's a valuable skill for people to have. The problem is now getting my faculty to sign up for it. It's not required like it is in the public school system in my state. I've put out dates for the entire year and have had one full class. You would think they would encourage the faculty to get trained since they spent so much money on it!