Question re ACLS

Published

I start my new job in a few weeks, and I was told I would need to pass an ECG exam within 30 days of hire. I asked HR if there was some sort of course or training, and I was told "dont worry about that until you start"one of many nonanswers to my many questions. In nursing school our ECG class was literally a demo done on 1 student while 75 of us gathered around to look on.

I am going to renew my BLS and the instructor on the phone told me ACLS will help me pass the ECG exam. Should I go ahead with the ACLS or just renew my BLS and worry about ECG after I start my new job? I am not sure how in depth this exam will be or what i will need to know for it. Do you think ACLS will be adequate?

I don't understand why everyone is saying you won't be able to pass ACLS without having all the rhythms down. Granted you will need to know quite a few to pass, but its not anything you cant learn in a few days. I had learned a few rhythms in nursing school but having never had to look at them I forgot it all. I signed up for ACLS a couple months after school, was confused with the rhythms but it all fell into place. I only started studying a few days before the class and I am by no means a good memorizer so I actually learned the differences.

You can pass ACLS w/o taking an EKG class. Just study :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

Please see if they have a Basic EKG/Arrhythmia class....REMEMBER you are not just learning this to pass a test. You need to have this for real life and real patients and it NEVER hurts to be well prepared. After you have mastered all of that..then take ACLS. I have always been a self starter and bought a book and trained myself..then if I happened to find a class to augment the learning I took that as well.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
i don't understand why everyone is saying you won't be able to pass acls without having all the rhythms down. granted you will need to know quite a few to pass, but its not anything you cant learn in a few days. i had learned a few rhythms in nursing school but having never had to look at them i forgot it all. i signed up for acls a couple months after school, was confused with the rhythms but it all fell into place. i only started studying a few days before the class and i am by no means a good memorizer so i actually learned the differences.

you can pass acls w/o taking an ekg class. just study :)

i cringed when i saw this response-------because i knew that for the vast majority of acls courses taught these days, this poster is absolutely correct.

there was a time when successfully completing a course in acls was quite an accomplishment. among many other things which fell by the wayside over the years, one of the testing stations was a separate written dysrhythmia exam. if you didn't pass it, no card/pin.

and miss a rhythm in megacode? buh byeeeeee. we'd let you remediate once later in the day. mess that up and that was it.

how do i know this? i was an acls instructor for many, many years. but when we started passing folks that literally could not consistently identify normal sinus rhythm even in lead ii....:uhoh3:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Which is why I stated that I didn't just memorize them (for the sake of passing). I suck at memorizing and I actually learned the information and the rationales and the reason why the rhythms look the way they do. I'm just saying you don't need to freak out because you haven't taken a specific EKG course. ACLS doesn't go into reading separate leads so obviously I'm not referring to those.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Well gees, and HR people like to act like they are looking for individuals who are pro-active. But, what does one expect from the people who think up the nonsense "Mission Statements." (Those are a bunch of BS, and laughable.):yeah: It may of little concern to him or her, but it is a very good question. I would ask the manager of the unit.

Every questions I have asked has been answered with a nonanswer or an "I will get back to you". This is an out of state move, so I need to get things done before I get there. HR told me the wrong color scrubs, I went and bought them all, now have to return em and re buy. I spoke with the Unit manager, she said she would call me back with answers and she hasnt. I have left her a couple of messages. But as a new grad, I am not in a position to pick & choose.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SICU, Peds CVICU.

*sigh* I hate when managers/hr act like this. Good luck with your first job! once you have some experience on your resume, it gets easier to figure out where the good jobs are imho.

Basic EKG interpretation is not incredibly difficult, but it does take some time for it to click in your brain. Once you start studying, let me know if there's anything you're not getting and I'd be happy to try to explain it. I'm sure you'll do find though:)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion