What is ACLS Certification?

Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) is a systematic approach to providing care to victims who have suffered a cardiac arrest or from several other specific medical emergencies. ACLS is an extension of basic life support (BLS): BLS is where the process of resuscitation begins, but ACLS is required for successful resuscitation.

ACLS certification is a requirement for many health care professionals. Nurses who work in an emergency room, intensive care unit, an operating room, a recovery room, a step-down unit, or who will work as transport nurses are required to have certification in ACLS. Physicians who work in these same areas and medical personnel who respond to cardiovascular emergencies are also required to have certification in ACLS.

In order to obtain ACLS certification, you must take – and pass – an online or offline ACLS course. Any health care professional or provider can take an ACLS course. Online ACLS courses allow medical providers to earn their ACLS certification or recertification from their home or workplace without having to travel to a classroom course. Online ACLS courses can be taken anytime and can be conveniently accessed from any computer with internet access.

The text that you will use for the ACLS course is the ACLS Provider Manual; the text is sometimes included as part of the tuition for online ACLS courses. ACLS courses cover a lot of material from the provider manual: for example there are approximately 20 arrhythmias you must be able to recognize, and there are at least six complex treatment algorithms that must be memorized.

After you have completed the course, you must take a written exam. The written exam covers the core cases of the ACLS provider manual and there are both online and offline ACLS exams available. Online exams are typically multiple choice and anywhere from 50 to 75 or more questions in length. Online ACLS exams are usually not timed, although most offline ACLS courses place a time limit on their exams.

Certification is good for two years. ACLS certification can typically be used for continuing education credits. Many hospitals reimburse the cost of both online and offline ACLS courses. Approval for online ACLS courses varies based on the quality of the course and employer.

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