Why does everyone need to be ACLS cert?

Nurses General Nursing

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There has been a push at hospitals in my area for ALL nurses to be ACLS certified. There are repercussions for those who choose not to do the training. Fewer hours, more w/e, and generally not treated as well. I can understand the PEDs floor, ICU, ER, Cath lab..... but just plain old med surg, I don't understand. There is a code team, so it's not like there aren't enough RNs to respond. Is this a trend everywhere?

Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.
You couldn't advocate for your hospital patients but can do so for hospice and home health patients?

I'm confused.

Lol. I never said i couldn't advocate for the hospital patients. You are not confused but are having fun using sarcasm. Touche. :smokin: I have advocated successfully for many types of patients many times in the past 15 years. Just worn out doing hospital nursing and usually not feeling appreciated. Probably would not have been so negative in previous posts if i had felt more supported by management all those years. I am appreciated more by pt's family members in hospice and home health, though, because i get to spend more time getting to know the family, not just the patient.

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Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.
Pretty daggone dumb of the nursing staff to leave a loaded PCA unattended at the nurses' station. Pretty daggone smart of the patient to sneak up to the nurses' station and steal it, then figure out how to jailbreak it so she could get her high.

Smart indeed. Her nurse was fired and i was on suspension for one month until all was sorted out. Pt suffered no ill effects and when i returned, she of course was back in the hospital and i overheard her tell her nurse "now i get my demerol every hour so just give it to me." -i was in charge with an assignment of patient's that day and stayed away from that pt. Her MD would not allow a pca. Her nurse was busy, busy so i helped out with her other patients when i could.

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Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.
............

.... i've used this before.

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Specializes in Community Health.
Nope, you still have it wrong--am no longer in acute setting and haven't given pills in awhile. I'm actually in advocacy for patients and doing hospice and home health. Quite busy and very happy. Also getting ready to do nurse advocacy for nurses such as yourself. I'm sure glad to not be as hard on you as you have been to me. Good luck w/ your job search.
I'm sorry :( I'm having a bad day and taking it out on people who don't deserve it. Good luck to you as well-lord knows we need advocates.

((Sorry for the thread hijjack too))

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Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.
I'm sorry :( I'm having a bad day and taking it out on people who don't deserve it. Good luck to you as well-lord knows we need advocates.

((Sorry for the thread hijjack too))

Done.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Smart indeed. Her nurse was fired and i was on suspension for one month until all was sorted out. Pt suffered no ill effects and when i returned, she of course was back in the hospital and i overheard her tell her nurse "now i get my demerol every hour so just give it to me." -i was in charge with an assignment of patient's that day and stayed away from that pt. Her MD would not allow a pca. Her nurse was busy, busy so i helped out with her other patients when i could.

I think you missed my point. In any case, it seems disciplinary action would have been in order in this case if it really happened the way you said.

If the patient shot up an entire PCA of Demerol (now let's all sit back and think about how much Demerol that would have had to have been), she would have had to have one whale of a tolerance to opioids. And, like I said, awfully clever, in order to figure out how to hook up that PCA to her IV, then jailbreak it so she could run the whole thing in what would have been a relatively short period of time without being caught.

This scenario just stretches credulity on several points, IMO.

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Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.
I think you missed my point. In any case, it seems disciplinary action would have been in order in this case if it really happened the way you said.

If the patient shot up an entire PCA of Demerol (now let's all sit back and think about how much Demerol that would have had to have been), she would have had to have one whale of a tolerance to opioids. And, like I said, awfully clever, in order to figure out how to hook up that PCA to her IV, then jailbreak it so she could run the whole thing in what would have been a relatively short period of time without being caught.

This scenario just stretches credulity on several points, IMO.

You made no point that i missed. Your responses are repetitive and not original. Get off your high horse.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

I'm not on any high horse at all.

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Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.
I'm not on any high horse at all.

alright. let's be cool.

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Specializes in acute care med/surg, LTC, orthopedics.
Lol. I never said i couldn't advocate for the hospital patients. You are not confused but are having fun using sarcasm. Touche. :smokin: I have advocated successfully for many types of patients many times in the past 15 years. Just worn out doing hospital nursing and usually not feeling appreciated. Probably would not have been so negative in previous posts if i had felt more supported by management all those years. I am appreciated more by pt's family members in hospice and home health, though, because i get to spend more time getting to know the family, not just the patient.

Yeah, you're right I was being kinda cheeky. But I still don't understand how that patient got you fired.

I also have little tolerance for excessive attention seeking and if telling the patient "I'll be back at xx time to give you your pain meds so don't keep ringing every 15 mins for it" doesn't work after several attempts and all his other immediate needs are met, then I resort to trucking their bed over by the nursing station, sans call bell of course, so he can be monitored and work can still get done. Getting loud and obnoxious is never acceptable especially if it's disruptive and distressing other patients, so a new sedation order may be required, and if all else fails, a code white would get security there pretty fast to take control and manhandle him a little bit. ;) He's still refusing to settle? Then off he goes to emerg, where he belongs. There, no longer my problem, I tried and failed, so be it.

Yeah, the heckling and verbal abuse is hard to swallow and takes resolution of steel to stomach but reacting to this behaviour is usually exactly what the patient wants from you but I agree... it wears you down bit by bit making it harder to maintain a professional attitude when all you wanna do is ********* BUT, didn't we know this about the job coming in? Didn't nursing school, in addition to life/world experience prepare us for this eventuality?

If I see an md on the floor from the team, I immediately insist he goes in and speak to the patient and sometimes his/her presence is sufficient to pacify the patient, but if not? Keep pestering the md, "I've given him xx and xx and now he's shouting, and swearing and demanding more meds"... then 15 mins later "he's by the nursing station now banging on the side rails and pulling at his lines... " Keep at this for a bit, and you'll see how fast the mds act, if nothing more than just to get you off their back. I'm of the belief than no ONE nurse can or should handle such a difficult and exhausting situation and that the supports need to be in place to resolve this effectively and with the least amount of bloodshed as possible. When such a dilemma arises, a good NM would have a debriefing to explore what lines of defense could/should be used, what could be done differently, who should be accountable for what, etc.. Aren't nurses also key players in policy making and enforcement?

I just haven't let these quandaries get to me (yet) but rather see it as something I can learn from to improve my skills when the next wild patient comes along, which I know with great certainty isn't gonna be that far into the future.

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Specializes in RETIRED Cath Lab/Cardiology/Radiology.

Just a reminder to, per the Terms of Service, please respond and post to the issue at hand, refraining from personal attacks.

Thank you.

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Specializes in Med Surg.
It's ridiculous that we all need acls. Bls should suffice. All hospitals have a rapid response team.

And you are speaking for every single hospital in every single town in the entire USA? Or maybe even the entire world?

Ever work in a small town? When we have a code the first people to reach the scene are the response team. We don't have docs or rts hanging around 24/7. So all of us get ACLS certified as a condition of employment. The last code we had on nights had an EMT-P as team leader, an RN pushing drugs, an LVN had the bag, and another LVN on compressions. A CNA was time keeper and recorder. If the code had happened in the ER, it would have been a different mix. On days, another mix. The whole staff is the rapid response team.

It's not a good idea to assume that just because things are done a certain way in your little corner of the world that they are done that way everywhere.

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