When do you become CPR certified?

[gentlerain]

Do you undergo training during nursing school or after you graduate and before you start working in a hospital? If it's the latter, are you expected to cover the class yourself or will the hospital provide for you?

Thanks!

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

The program I'm in required that we be BLS certified prior to the first day of the first semester class. We are then required to maintain it for the duration of the program at our own expense. I'm due for a recert this Summer, actually. I must be current in CPR as of the first moment I walk back into the classroom this Fall. I will also be taking ACLS this Summer as well, but even though I'm "just" a Nursing Student, I'm also a Paramedic, so I actually could use the ACLS certificate, and it will count toward my CE hours for maintaining that license.

Actually doing CPR isn't that bad. Tiring, yes, but not that bad. Running a code single-handed? It'd be about as hard as running a 3-ring circus while deaf and blind. I wouldn't recommend it if at all possible...

[Ms_barnesRN]

My program did the CPR class for everybody entering that semester even if you already had it so it will last the enough program

[Jeepchick97]

I have to have it completed prior to August 1st, the date when our checklist of items are due. I am taking mine through a course offered at my school...$58 for the course and book...I thought THAT was cheap, but it looks as if other people got it cheaper.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

In our area the nursing students must have American Heart Asso. Healthcare provider BLS to be able to come to the hospitals for clinical rotations. From then on, it is kept current every two years. We do not hire anyone without it (nurses or anyone doing direct patient care). Only the AHA program is approved by our HR.

[Jeepchick97]

Ours has to be through the AHA too.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I just did my recert for my new/old job in LTC, and the class was only $35.

Requiring CPR prior to nursing school entrance is nothing new. Back in the mid-1990s when I started my program, it was mandatory in order to be accepted into the program. Allowing students (or any other provider) around patients without having current BLS is plain foolish, IMO.