Should all inpatient nurses be ACLS certified?

[TaraK]

Hello! I am conducting a small research study for a bio-statistics class and have a topic that has intrigued me for my final project. If my fellow nurses can take the time to answer a few questions it would be so helpful! Thank you. You can just list 1-10 with your answers. I appreciate anyone's input ?

1. Do you work day or night shift? (yes/no)

2. Male, female, choose not to disclose (male/female/other)

3. How many years of experience do you have?

4. Do you work critical care (ICU, ED)? (critical care/no)

5. Do you have a current ACLS training/hx of ACLS or no? (yes/no)

6. Do you have a doctor readily available on your unit in the instance a code arises? (yes/no)

7. Current level of comfort during a code situation (1-10 scale: 1 being least, 10 being extremely comfortable)

8. If you are ACLS certified, on a scale 1-10, how well do you feel ACLS has prepared you for a code situation? (1-10 scale: 1 being least prepared, 10 being most prepared)

9. Do you feel ACLS training would be beneficial to patients and nurses if all nurses were trained in it? (yes/no)

10. For those with ACLS training, what do you feel affects your level of comfort and competence in a code the most?: (1=years of experience, 2=ACLS training, 3=type of unit you work on, 4=shift you work).

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Moved to nursing student assistance forum.

1. Day

2. Female (I am a Queen, after all)

3. 15

4. No- operating room

5. Yes, required for certain nurses in my department, but not most

6. Most of the time- but we also have CRNAs who can run the code as well with every patient in the OR. The surgeon usually only shows up when it's time to cut.

7. 8

8. 7

9. No. For those who do not routinely use the algorithms or work with the meds, it's impossible for them to stay competent.

10. All are fairly equal

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

On 7/19/2020 at 4:08 PM, TaraK said:

1. Do you work day or night shift? (yes/no) day

2. Male, female, choose not to disclose (male/female/other)male

3. How many years of experience do you have?5

4. Do you work critical care (ICU, ED)? (critical care/no)NICU

5. Do you have a current ACLS training/hx of ACLS or no? (yes/no) Not currently ACLS certified, but NRP (neonatal version of ACLS)

6. Do you have a doctor readily available on your unit in the instance a code arises? (yes/no)24 hrs/day on unit

7. Current level of comfort during a code situation (1-10 scale: 1 being least, 10 being extremely comfortable)8

8. If you are ACLS certified, on a scale 1-10, how well do you feel ACLS has prepared you for a code situation? (1-10 scale: 1 being least prepared, 10 being most prepared)8

9. Do you feel ACLS training would be beneficial to patients and nurses if all nurses were trained in it? (yes/no)no.

10. For those with ACLS training, what do you feel affects your level of comfort and competence in a code the most?: (1=years of experience, 2=ACLS training, 3=type of unit you work on, 4=shift you work).Each year of experience in Critical Care increases comfort and competency. ACLS is renewed every 2 yrs. More years of experience means you have been through ACLS multiple times. Type of unit plays a big factor.

ACLS training is like learning Spanish. Should all nurses learn Spanish in case they get a Spanish speaking patient? It may be useful, but if you have a Spanish speaking patient infrequently, you will not be proficient. It is much easier to have an interpreter come to speak to your Spanish speaking patient. It is the same for ACLS, it is much better for a Critical Care nurse, who deals with codes frequently to handle a code than a Med/Surg nurse who deals with codes infrequently.