Continuing education for healthcare professionals helps increase knowledge and skills in specialized areas, and earning life support certifications is important in building a good medical career. However, it is best to take life support certifications before taking a nursing career, including Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) training and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) training.
Learn the valuable reasons why you should earn life support certifications before pursuing a nursing career by reading below.
Better Preparation For A Nursing Career
Preparation is paramount for any healthcare degree because you’ll be dealing with people’s lives by addressing their health concerns. Good preparation includes taking online ACLS & PALS certifications for medical professionals, giving you full concepts and training in cardiac arrest management and other cardiovascular emergencies for adults and children.
Here’s how ACLS and PALS certifications better prepare you for a nursing career:
Increase Knowledge And Skills In Providing Life Support:
ACLS training teaches students how to perform basic and advanced life support, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR, to increase a patient’s survival. This training is usually an integration of advanced cardiovascular life support and effective basic life support interventions. It emphasizes the importance of effective communication and team interaction during resuscitation.
Provide Life Support To Pediatric Clients As Necessary:
With knowledge on how to resuscitate children ages eight years old and below, including newborns or infants (less than 12 months), you can apply the life support skills confidently, not just for hospital patients but also for other people surrounding you in your day-to-day interactions.
Upon taking the ACLS and PALS training, you’ll be given a course completion card with two years of validity. You need to renew your completion card when it is about to expire. Inquire with the nearest AHA Training Center to know your options.
Learn How To Assess People Needing ACLS Or PALS Properly
By earning life support certifications before you pursue a nursing career, you’ll be more confident in assessing vulnerable or at-risk individuals for cardiac arrest. It’s because you have a more in-depth knowledge of the H’s and T’s of ACLS, which are reversible conditions with prompt intervention.
It will be easier to help rule out if the signs and symptoms are manifestations of these H’s and T’s such as hypovolemia, hypoxia, hydrogen ion excess or acidosis, hypokalemia and hyperkalemia, or hypothermia. You will also enhance your clinical eye when determining the signs and symptoms of tamponade, toxin-induced arrests, tension pneumothorax, and coronary or pulmonary thrombosis.
Appealing Credentials
Aside from your nursing diploma, one competitive advantage of training life support is earning certifications, making your nursing credentials look more appealing to prospective employers. Having ACLS and PALS certifications would make you a preferred applicant for the post over a new nursing graduate with just a diploma to present.
Training for ACLS and PALS would give you more edge than other applicants because you already have increased knowledge and skills in these critical healthcare areas. It reflects a reduced learning curve and additional training and preparation before the actual nursing job.
Higher Salary
According to a statistical report, the hourly rate for critical care nurses is USD$33 and USD$32 for an emergency room nurse. The salary of registered nurses is USD$31 per hour. Critical care and emergency room nurses have ACLS and PALS certifications, which means a higher salary rate at USD$1 to $2 difference from nurses without these certifications.
Things To Look For In A Life Support Training Provider
It’s essential to know the crucial considerations before undergoing life support training and certification to ensure you’ll learn the right knowledge and skills and get your money’s worth. Check the following aspects to look for when choosing a life support training provider:
Provides Universally-Recognized Training Cards:
: You want to ensure that hiring supervisors and managers recognize the training cards or life support certification you have earned.
Offers Flexible Class Schedules:
Choose one that provides flexible learning schedules for more convenient learning, like evening classes, weekday options, and weekends.
Experienced Instructors:
Learning under highly trained healthcare practitioners with many years of experience can help you assess situations and act based on real-world scenarios, providing healthcare best practices. Of course, all instructors should be certified by the American Heart Association as ACLS and PALS instructors.
Conclusion:
Before you pursue a nursing career, it’s important to take life support training to earn certifications, such as ACLS and PALS certifications. With these added credentials, you will be more prepared and confident in handling patients at imminent risk or who are experiencing various cardiovascular and pulmonary emergencies.
