For those of you who are certified in CPR?

Tarabara · Mar 26, 2011

No you would not be demonstrating on an actual person, just dummys. I would bring a pencil or pen and maybe fold up a blank piece of paper in your pocket just in case but i dont remember needing to write things down because they gave us a booklet with the info. I dont know if its the same for all CPR classes but in the one i took there were about 5-6 dummys and after they taught us they'd have us demonstrate as a group. There was also a short quiz at the end. No i have not used CPR in an emergency situation but it is kinda nice to know that i'd have at least some idea of what to do!

student.nurse · Mar 26, 2011

chill. relax.

cpr certification is easy peezy.

besides, if an emergency situation happens in your clinical setting i'm pretty sure YOU won't be the one doing CPR

just like my professor always told me: "just because you're certified in something doesn't necessarily mean you can do it"

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 26, 2011

I have a few questions:
1. I'm sure they have dummies but they won't make you demonstrate CPR on an actual person right?
2. DO I need to bring anything to class such as a notebook or a pencil (The one I'm taking is only 1 section). I don't want to be the only loser carrying a backpack to class when it's only one session.
3. How do they know if you are ready to be certified in CPR. I think there's going to be a lot of people in the room so is everybody going to demonstrate what they learned individually/in groups?
Don't really have to answer number 4 but....
4. Have you ever used CPR during an emergency situation?

It would be dangerous to practice on a person not needing CPR. CPR is very aggressive.

I only brought a pen. The class provided everything, the materials were a part of my fee.

You test out on it, you take a test over the material covered and you demonstrate technique on a dummy.

In Nursing School we had a emergent CPR situation on the fake sim man, it was one of our SIM labs. Not the same as a real code but I have to admit, after taking numerous CPR classes, it was a lot more realistic than CPR class. It was a Full Size man, it was one of those 20 thousand dollar Simulation mannequins. I had to do the compressions and it was exhausting, our Instructor who worked ICU for many years was there and he made sure we went as deep and as fast as you were supposed to go. 2 mins wore you out. We had real hospital beds set up in class and the scenario was done in that like you would see in the hospital, we had to set up the back board and all. Again, still not the same as real life.

In the CPR class it was these half body dummies. Didn't seem realistic at all, they never really enforced that you were doing it as fast and stuff as my teacher did. Was just completely different.

2 nights ago was the first time I saw actual CPR preformed, my normal CI wasn't in the hospital, we had a sub, I wish she would have been because I know she would have had the Doctor let me do compressions. She knew him. The code lasted a really long time. I was surprised how long they kept going. They kept passing compressions on to everyone in the room, finally after an hour they had a machine brought up, auto pulse or something like that, it did compressions. It was pretty cool. That was the only time I saw it in real life. Apparently the floor I was on gets a lot of Codes though. This was my first time there.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 26, 2011

chill. relax.
cpr certification is easy peezy.
besides, if an emergency situation happens in your clinical setting i'm pretty sure YOU won't be the one doing CPR
just like my professor always told me: "just because you're certified in something doesn't necessarily mean you can do it"

Actually, most of the staff in the places I have been in, if a student is nearby, they will let the student do compressions. You have to learn somewhere. It's encouraged. Unfortunately the only code I got to personally be in on had a not so nice Doc so I didn't feel comfortable asking if I could jump in on my on as I had never been on this unit before, had my instructor been there though, I would have gotten to do them. Another facility I was at, one Doctor was notorious for spotting students and having them hop in to do compressions and guide them through it.

Lastly, if it is an emergent situation and you are the one there that discovers it, who do you think starts the compressions while you wait for the code team to arrive?

rebecca9341 · Mar 26, 2011

1) Of course they use mannequins! could you imagine being the person practiced on? SCARY :no: haha

2) the CPR class i took had an online component, all of the factual and important information was covered before we were able to go get certified in the classroom. If your class doesn't offer that than take notes if you feel you need to. Who cares if nobody else does. I want to know that if i ever need to perform CPR, i am knowledgeable on it and if that means taking notes than do it. This is a life or death matter, what other people think about you is very small in comparison to the care you provide.

3) basically if you are able to demonstrate when the need to start compressions, when to provide breaths, when to call 911 etc. You're not going to feel like you are 100% competent in CPR, i certainly didn't, you're just learning the skills in case you ever need to perform it. Every now and then I go back and brush up on my CPR knowledge to make sure if I am ever in the situation where CPR is needed, I at least don't stand there like a deer in head lights.

4) NO, THANK GOD!

prime11214 · Mar 26, 2011

chill. relax.
cpr certification is easy peezy.
besides, if an emergency situation happens in your clinical setting i'm pretty sure YOU won't be the one doing CPR
just like my professor always told me: "just because you're certified in something doesn't necessarily mean you can do it"

You don't have to put others down just because you never had the opportunity to save somebody's life....

healthcare4life · Mar 26, 2011

fyi, CPR certification only last for 2 years

microtutor · Mar 26, 2011

I wrote a few things down that seemed important, just to help me remember them. I thought the most interesting aspects were all the stuff about your "duty to act" - a regular person who knows CPR can walk past an emergency if they don't feel confident in their ability to respond, but health professionals must do something.

They showed us how to lower a big person to the ground. We used actual people for that, and it was pretty difficult to get one of those over 6' people down onto the ground without hurting them or myself! (I'm only 5'6".)

Then we practiced on the mannequins, like everyone else and at the end we took an exam to prove that we at least remembered what we had been doing for the previous few hours. LOL

It would be nice to have the code experience that ~Mi Vida Loca~ said they had - that sounds much more realistic. Maybe one day!!

Jonathank · Mar 26, 2011

You don't have to put others down just because you never had the opportunity to save somebody's life....

I didn't see any put downs. The advice to relax was relevant to the tone of your OP. And it also apparently still is, given the tone of the above words.

You'll probably watch a video and be given a booklet. You might feel for pulses on real people, but that's about it. You'll demonstrate 1 and 2 person rescue scenarios (that you've just been taught) on dummies. Then you'll take a short multiple choice quiz. That's it.

CuriousMe · Mar 26, 2011

I wrote a few things down that seemed important, just to help me remember them. I thought the most interesting aspects were all the stuff about your "duty to act" - a regular person who knows CPR can walk past an emergency if they don't feel confident in their ability to respond, but health professionals must do something.

Maybe this varies with state law....but what they told us is that, as a health professional, I must respond when I'm on duty. If I'm not currently on duty, I have the same responsibility to as anyone else.....which means it's my choice to respond or not.

Now, personally....I'll respond and provide any help that I can....but that's the law here in my state.

prime11214 · Mar 26, 2011

I didn't see any put downs. The advice to relax was relevant to the tone of your OP. And it also apparently still is, given the tone of the above words.

I was referring to this statement:

"besides, if an emergency situation happens in your clinical setting i'm pretty sure YOU won't be the one doing CPR

just like my professor always told me: "just because you're certified in something doesn't necessarily mean you can do it"

I never even said anything about a situation happening during a clinical setting. And who knows, I might be the one that does end up doing CPR on someone when I know how. Maybe I'll end up saving YOUR life one day :rolleyes: