cpr requirements???

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 25, 2001

Iris is correct in her posts. AS nursing (professionals we are individually responsible for maintaining our license and maintining current in heaalthcare nursing standards. That would include CPR certification, yearly inservices/CEU's, becoming familiar with new techniques & or equipment we are working with.

This is what sets apart a profession: inddividdually being responsible for our license rather than any career or job.

In the past, good healthcare facilities usually were willing to have the most highly skilled and professional staff possible so they could attract the most patients, and helped professionals learn about advances in thier field to attract and maintain staff.

Over the past 5 years, that has all changed as many facilities are looking to cut costs anyway they can.

When I taught AHA CPR in the 80's, classes were FREE to all.

As it became the norm and AHA saw this as a business opportunity and the cost of manaquins increased due to infection control issues, costs began rising and they began to charge for coorifice materials and the cards. It costs $10.00 per employee in my area to be issued a card; individual disposable face/mouth pieces for manaquin are an additional cost along with plastic lungs after each session. There have been suits re cross infections reported ( don't remember their outcome).

Clinical specialists and educators were the first to be eliminated in the 90's. No wonder there is poor leadership in many healthcare settings today. Administrators have done alot to wear staff down.

catlady, BSN, RN · Jun 25, 2001

I just get cranky when I hear about BLS and ACLS. I was an ACLS instructor, which is a pain to get (and very expensive). I don't know if it's true in other states, but here in CT, the AHA divested itself from the training classes and set up "affiliates," meaning different organizations such as hospitals were now responsible for their own programs and their own instructors. Every instructor had to affiliate with a program. So I did, and I taught some classes, but then the affiliate wouldn't schedule me any more, and worse, wouldn't issue me a new instructor card. I couldn't even get my calls returned. Without a current card, I couldn't affiliate with another program, either, when I had the opportunity to do so. When I called AHA, they said it wasn't their problem and I should deal with the affiliate. So my instructor certification has expired, so now I'm not even ACLS-P certified! I have zero recourse other than to start all over again, taking the provider course and then the instructor course. GRRRRRR!!!!

Stargazer · Jun 25, 2001

catlady, I think your experience is accurate around the country. The AHA has a regional office here but all the teaching is done through CTCs, or community training centers. These are basically franchises and although they have to adhere to some basic standards, how good or bad, organized or disorganized each CTC is seems to have a lot to do with who is running it -- and possibly with how closely the regional office watches out for the CTCs in its area.

Do you have just the one near you or do you have any choice in where you can go? I have at least 4 CTCs within easy driving distance from me and they always seem to have a need for more instructors. I took my BLS and my AED instructor courses at the largest one in the area, and the head of the CTC looked fried and said she desperately needed some more instructor-trainers. She asked me if I would be interested in taking the class.

If you are limited to one local CTC and really are unable to get a satisfactory response from them, I would go over their head to the regional AHA office. The CTC is answerable to them.

catlady, BSN, RN · Jun 25, 2001

Thanks for the response, Stargazer. There are plenty of CTCs in the area, and I had one that wanted to use me, but I couldn't show them proof that I was a current instructor because my affiliate would not issue me a new card, even though I had taught for them. The regional AHA refused to help me, and just gave me the standard line to go back and try to get the affiliate to issue me the card. As I said, though, it's all moot now because I went another year without being able to teach two classes, so my certification expired. If I ever have the time and the money, I might go through it all over again with a different affiliate , but I shouldn't have to do that.....