Nurses play an important role in the healthcare industry. They can attend to the various
needs of the patient, especially when the physician or specialist has their hands full. Nurses
are involved in the entire patient care process, and can also assist with symptom
management, the prevention of complications, and offering first-aid services.
There are several methods companies can use to increase the overall usefulness of nurses
in a medical setting, and providing these healthcare professionals with an ACLS certification
is definitely a good starting point.
What Is The Role Of An ACLS Certification?
Before considering the benefits that nurses can get with this certification, it’s important to
have a better understanding of the role that ACLS plays in the healthcare setting. The ACLS
certification is also known as Advanced Cardiac Life Support. It is a course that equips you
with a set of specific skills, which can help to save the lives of people who face certain
cardiac events.
The skill is essential in many types of medical settings. In the ICU, patients can experience
complications such as cardiac arrest, when they are faced with a critical illness. The skills
that the ACLS certification teaches are to think quickly in these critical situations and act
accordingly.
The course itself goes into detail about various topics related to cardiac events. Some of the
topics covered by these courses include:
● A comprehensive review of BLS skills and techniques.
● Details about detecting cardiac arrest and critical respiratory complications at an
early stage.
● The importance of early interventions in these critical cases, along with details on
their management.
● Skills that can help to manage a patient’s airway when receiving intubation.
The course will also go into more detail about communicating with the entire team, and
touch on topics related to pharmacology’s involvement in these particular events.
Why Should Nurses Get ACLS Certifications?
There are a couple of reasons why an ACLS certification is a good choice for nurses. We
should note here that nurses are involved in all departments throughout the healthcare
setting. As they attend to the needs of patients, nurses can come across critical situations,
such as cardiac arrest.
When it comes to saving someone’s life during these events, time is everything. The faster
interventions are implemented, the greater chance the patient has to survive. While doctors
are generally on standby in hospitals and other medical facilities, nurses are always around
the patients. This is where ACLS certifications become an incredibly helpful tool to have.
Calling a doctor or other healthcare professional when a patient goes into cardiac arrest
takes time. The doctor still needs to head over to the correct department. When there are
nurses with these skills close to the patient, they can already start to implement the
appropriate methods to save the patient’s life.
This means a nurse with an ACLS certification can become the first responder to these
situations. Since they are already in the area, they can implement the necessary steps
based on the training they received when they completed the course.
Apart from this, it’s also important to understand that ACLS certification becomes an
important skill in higher-level care. Patients in the ICU, for example, require access to well-
trained staff members who can respond quickly to different situations.
By equipping nurses with this certification, the nurse also benefits in the process, not just the
facility and the patients. Continuing education is important in the medical industry and
equipping a nurse with an ACLS certification can help to give them an improvement on their
resume.
In one study, researchers wanted to determine if advanced cardiac life support training in
these health professionals can have an impact on the survival rate of patients. They found
that it did have a positive impact, further stressing the need for ACLS certification among
more than just doctors and specialists.
Getting Nurses On Board For ACLS Certification
If you run a medical facility and want to take advantage of what ACLS certification can do
for nurses, it’s important to plan things out ahead of time. This will give you the ability to
better understand what steps need to be taken. It is also important that you take your nurses
into consideration – how much free time do they have on their hands? Consider if they have
transportation to facilities, and what type of education approach would work best for them.
At AffordableACLS.com, we understand that staff members won’t always have the time to
visit a local education center in order to attend classes. We’ve developed an online course
structure that is highly efficient.
There are several benefits to using an online ACLS certification. Nurses get to learn at their
own pace, and they’ll still receive a certification when they pass the final exam. It’s a great
way to equip nurses with these essential life-saving skills while they still attend to their job at
a medical facility.
To get your nurses on board for this certification, it is important to follow a couple of steps.
This can help to avoid confusion and ensure everyone is on the same page.
1. Start by setting up a meeting with the nurses who are going to do the course. Of
course, it’s important to ensure you offer it as an opportunity. Ask the nurses about
their thoughts and take the opinions you get into consideration.
2. Once you have a list of nurses that want to enroll for the certification, set up a new
meeting with them; during this meeting, you should inform the nurses about the course. Make sure to detail what the ACLS certification is about, how it works, and
the platform that you are going to use.
3. Provide a supportive system for these nurses. There may be other healthcare
providers who are already ACLS certified. In this case, make sure the nurses can get
in touch with these professionals if they have specific questions or concerns.
Conclusion
References
K. Gaines. Everything Nurses Need to Know About ACLS, BLS & PALS Certifications.
Nurse.org. Published 12 August 2021. https://nurse.org/articles/everything-nurses-need-to-know-about-acls-bls-pals
K. Sodhi, M.K. Singla, et al. Impact of advanced cardiac life support training program on the
outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a tertiary care hospital. Indian Journal of Critical
Care Medicine. Published 2011. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3271556/
