Wednesday, December 4, 2013

I Am Going to Take a BLS Class

     Yesterday, I registered for a class for BLS, Basic Life Support for Healthcare Provider, to get a BLS certification. I'm going to take the class tomorrow morning. The course, which was $55, is usually around for 6 hours and includes skills practice and written test. I hope I will pass the class and get the certification. :)


     In order to pass the class, I have been studying for BLS on my own. First, I ordered the text book, which was around $15, from Amazon on November 7th and received it on November 16th. I was going to take the class in the end of November but I decided against that in the end. I received the text book later than I expected because the text book from Amazon Prim was sold out, and I had to order it with regular shipping. :P Anyway, I just read through the textbook once. I learned that the 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for CPR was changed in the CPR sequence. The sequence of steps is no longer A-B-C (Airway, Breathing, Chest compressions), and it is now C-A-B. I studied BLS for each age group, how to use defibrillator, and how to relieve from choking.


     When I was working as a nurse in Japan, I was periodically required to study and practice for CPR in my work place. I didn't need to take an official class nor get a certification for CPR though. While I was working at an acute hospital in Japan, I practically did chest compressions for a critical patient. In addition, I witnessed that my colleagues relived choking in elderly patients while working at the dementia floor, and those were clearly a critical life-or-death situations. At the time, I realized that it is significantly essential to know how to help out patients in an emergency situations if you working in the medical field.

     I have never taken a BLS class in the U.S., and I am glad to take the class tomorrow. :) In contrast, I am little nervous to take the class because I have never had experience taking a class with Americans and am worried about my poor English speaking. Nonetheless, I look forward to the class. It will be my first step as a RN in the U.S.

No comments:

Post a Comment