Med-Surg/Onc/tele

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Oncology/Telemetry/ICU.

I work on a MS/Onc/tele unit and I'll have to take ACLS in September and I'm so scared! I didn't know if there was a book, internet link, etc that would help me understand heart rythems. I'm just lost when it comes to that stuff; I can tell when it's not "normal", but that's it! :uhoh3:

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The ACLS instructor will go over basic rhythms (Vtach, Vfib, etc.) in class. When I started working, I had a Dysrhythmia course I had to take as part of orientation. Will your hospital offer anything like this?

I have a book called "ECG Workout" which goes over the different arrhythmias and than has practice strips with explanations of each. There's also a book by Dale Dubin called "Rapid Interpretation of ECGs" which I thought was very helpful.

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i dont know of any book or website but i believe if you do the web search,you can find one that might help you.Goodluck.Do not be scared,you can do it! Approach it with courage and you'll come out with success.Azor

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Specializes in peds, peds ICU, OB, Cath Lab,home health.

Hi Katie - in ACLS they teach you everything you need to know for the course, but if you really want to get into it, try Dale Dubin's "Rapid EKG Interpretation". When I first started in cardiac nursing (oh so long ago) it was THE book, and I still haven't found anything to beat it. I swear I learned to read EKG's by looking at his illustrations!

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Specializes in Emergency.

Check out these sites:

http://www.randylarson.com/acls/master/rhythmst.html - rhythm quizzes.

http://skillstat.com/sixsecond2.htm - all kinds of cardiac information including rhythm tutorials & quizzes. I didn't check to see if the ACLS quiz is based on the current protocol.

The Dubin book is apparently the best, although some have trouble with him as a person....

Have fun and good luck.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Oncology/Telemetry/ICU.

Thank you all so much! I'll try to get a hold of some of those books and go on the sites!;)

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Specializes in Cardiology.

You need to take a basic ecg course before you start ACLS. ACLS does not teach you rhythms, they just review them and then focus on how to respond to various situations.

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