Friday, May 18, 2012

Wasted by ACLS

This will be a short post, as I'm about ready to hit the sack. I spent most of the day in ACLS today. For those of you lucky enough not to be in the healthcare field, ACLS is "Advanced Cardiac Life Support". Many hospitals and emergency services require staff to be certified in ACLS in order to be qualified to perform procedures necessary to saving a life while hospitalized. I.E. administering correct medications in correct dosages, identifying cardiac rhythms in order to decide what drugs to give at when, and what steps to take to 'hopefully' prolong cardiac function long enough to have some high tech procedure done by the folks who make the big money. The only drawback to all this educating and certifying is that unless you're employed in some very specific areas, you may only have occasion to use this info once or twice a year. In many cases, you cram all this info into your brain, only to forget it again before you use it! This is the time when I'm glad to NOT be a doctor, because generally they are in charge and telling the rest of us what to do. Prior to the class, you're required to take the "Pre-test" to determine your current level of knowledge and what areas you may need to review. My score was 62%. Uh-oh.(Did I mention that I have to have this certification in order to actually work and earn money?) Hmmm, guess I better hurry up and start cramming! Two more tries at the pre-test and my score was up to 95%. Okay, well that's better. (I hope). Anyway, through divine intervention and a lot of finger crossing, I managed to squeak through. It's safe for me to go back into work next week. (Too bad. I would have liked to take early retirement!) I'm safe for another two years (or until someone codes on my shift). Time to go to bed.

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