IS ACLS SCARY?!

[dreamsdocometrue15]

So I just recently passed my NCLEX last month :)

got so busy with few things and got the time now to

to enroll my self to BCLS, ACLS, PALS!

i was so excited when I realized I only have 2 days to study ACLS. I'm so scared to fail. To think NCLEX

was really hard. Maybe this one too

they said to take certain courses just to add up

to my resume since I have no experience at all!!

do you think I'll survive hahahaha

any tips too?

[Nursey1108]

Do not feel intimidated at all- you are there to learn. In my experience the places I've gone to really teach you to pass and they allowed you to use you ACLS manual for the test. Yes there may be people there who are already working but not everyone's experiences are the same. When I took my course it was just me (RN) another RN and an MD. To put things in perspective, the MD didn't know all the answers to the test and has experienced real life codes.. You will do fine, just get it over with. Even SNFs are requiring their RNs to have ACLS so don't wait!

Good luck you! If you want a bit of edge before you go definitely review basic EKG interpretation on youtube as it will help you tremendously.

[dreamsdocometrue15]

sorry for the late reply:P thank you so much!! i was really intimdate, but everything went well. as what u said even MD's had a hard time too

[dreamsdocometrue15]

I JUST WANT TO CLOSE THIS THREAD/TOPIC AND WANTED TO THANK ALL THOSE EXPERIENCE NURSES WHO SHARED THEIR EXPERINCE AND ADVICE.

I HAVE COMPLETED ALL THREE :)

To be honest it was hard, although it was open book/notes the questions were based on scenarios. So you must understand it very well. The megacodes were actually fun, but it was the megacode in PALS that got me so bad. I did two rounds of it and I pretty much sucked. HAHAHA but the instructors was really nice and they really want you to pass.

so my advice to the newbies,

1.)If you're scared just study in advance ( I STUDIED 4HRS before the class started hhhh)

2.) You'll really get intimidate, especially if you dont have experience, but who cares... as what they said, you came there to learn.

good luck and god bless!

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

When I first took ACLS (in 1982), the instructors were tougher. It seemed t hey TRIED to trip you up and often succeeded. I was in a group with two ER docs, both of whom flunked while I, the ICU newbie passed because I had spent the past few days studying hard.

These days, ACLS is much more nurturing. As an instructor, I try to help people think critically rather than trying to flunk them. Almost anyone who takes it seriously enough to study the book and take the practice quizzes beforehand can pass. (Except the medical student who, playing around with the paddles, managed to shock a few classmates. HIM, I gleefully flunked!)