by Ray Mickol

Created on: August 06, 2010

ACLS is not the challenge it once was. At one time, you were a lone ranger, standing in a room in front of a panel that consisted of a doctor, nurse and maybe another healthcare professional. They would hold up a card with a cardiac rhythm on them and make you go through the complete algorithm, often throwing you curveballs. Now it is a team effort and you can also rely on your team for help and support.

The first suggestion for passing ACLS is to obtain the American Heart Association materials for the course. These materials should include a student manual and a skills guide. Also included will be your algorithm card and a student CD. Found on the student CD will be your ACLS pretest. This pretest is required to be completed before you sit for the course, whether the course is the initial provider course or your renewal course.  When you pass the pretest, this should give you the confidence that you have sufficient knowledge base to do well in the course.

The next step in being successful in the student manual of yours and read. If it is yours, a great study technique is to read the chapter through. Reread the chapter with your highlighter in hand, of course highlighting pertinent information as you go. After highlighting, go over what you highlighted.

You then take the skills book. See what skills will be required of you. Learn and practice these. A great hint to passing ACLS is there are skills check sheets in the skills book.  These are the exact check sheets your instructor will use as they test you out. You will know exactly what is expected of you.

Another great tool you have is your student CD. At least take a quick look through this. Not only will you find your pretest here, you will also find it crammed with useful information and scenarios. A look through this is most helpful.

It is found one of the most useful tools in passing Advanced Cardiac Life Support is the algorithm card that is included in the student package. If you take a look at this card, you will find green and blue boxes in each algorithm. If you memorize each green box, you will have down what is expected of you during the skills test out phase.  The blue boxes are what you will need to implement what is in the green boxes. A lot of training centers will let you utilize the algorithm card during practice and during the test out phase of the course.  Since you will most likely carry this card in your lab coat or scrub top when you get back to your clinical areas, it is good to know this card backward and forward so you are not fumbling for the information when you most need it.

A good thing to keep in mind is that ACLS like PALS is now predicated on teamwork. Team building is the linchpin to the course and also your clinical practice. Pay close attention to the teamwork building in your literature and practice this during your course. You will find that this will carry over to your practice. During your course, you will most likely be broken down into teams which you will be with throughout the whole course. Get to know your team members. Work with their strengths and work on their weaknesses. This will set a tone of camaraderie and who knows, it might even carry over into your clinical practice making your next code smoother and hopefully with a better outcome for the patient.

Implementations of these tips can make you a shining star not only in ACLS class but also hopefully, in your clinical practice.

Learn more about this author, Ray Mickol.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.