It is extremely common for students who have never had an ACLS to feel anxiety or stress. Especially providers that are not pre-hospital emergency care providers. It is important to keep things in perspective when taking your first ACLS class. New providers are not expected to leave a course knowing all there is to know about ACLS.  ACLS can have a very broad application as you can see by looking at the book if you have it already. We could easily spend two days teaching the drugs alone (which is but one chapter), but that would be off the target. The primary focus and objective with an ACLS certification course is that you can understand the algorithms and how that there is a “protocol” to use when we as professionals are presented with patients having fairly common cardiac symptoms whether stable or unstable.

The algorithms are the core, and the book is a “reference manual” to the broader subject. Many providers who come to class after having taken it for years and are afraid because they know there is so much that they do not know. Particularly providers that do not work in an emergency, setting whether in or out of a hospital environment. However, when we as instructors begin to refresh them on the basic application of ACLS algorithms they feel much more comfortable.

Your ACLS instructor will be providing instruction on a variety of topics including BLS, ECG recognition and airway management as well as other topic. His or her purpose in being there is to teach you, not to test you. The test is a way for us to find out how well “we” as instructors have taught you, not how well you know the contents of the book. So in reality the ACLS test is a measurement of us and not exclusively you. Rest assured, if you are experiencing stress or anxiety about taking the ACLS provider course, know that this is “VERY” common for first time ACLS students. However, that doesn’t mean that you should. I would encourage you to go to your class as scheduled and have fun. Learning should be fun and ACLS is no exception. You have a qualified professional instructor and will have a good time. be sure to go into class with a positive attitude, say hello first and make some friends. You can make the class what you want it to be.