cpr

[jama]

What are the guidelines on rn maintaining cpr certification? Are hospitals required to provide training for rns? Where i work they cancelled all classes and have told us there is a 6 month grace period after ones certification expires. are there any legal problems if you perform cpr during the"6 month grace"period? Thanks, Jama

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[kennedyj]

I am a BLS instructor (which is no hard task to complete) and have not heard of this unless there is some clause that states that the hospital may extend BLS expirations.

JCAHO also tends to like for the hospitals to put practice into policy. They will look to see if the policy is followed. However a policy that is not backed by standards will open up all kinds of controversy the minute something goes wrong. The Lawyers are looking for a stupid loop hole to get you with. The patient could have been down for 3 hrs before arriving in the ER but it will boil down to the fact that it was your poor CPR efforts due to an expired card. I would protect myself and not work with an expired card. Youve worked hard for your nursing license.

Jared