BLS and NRP at FNU: which cards you need and why ACLS won't do

What each track needs

FNU's life-support requirements are short and specific. The catalog sets them out by track, and they are the same for MSN and PGC students in each specialty.

ACLS and PALS are not required for any track, and neither can replace BLS. Fetal heart monitoring education is a separate compliance item for midwifery and WHNP students rather than a resuscitation card, but it sits on the same checklist and the same deadline. Vaccines and the health form are covered on immunization requirements.

BLS: the card FNU accepts

The catalog asks for “Certification in Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS/BLS) for adults, pediatrics, and infants.” The course must come from the American Heart Association, which FNU prefers, from an approved AHA course provider, or from the American Red Cross.

Two checks prevent a rejected upload. First, confirm the card covers all three age groups; a course limited to adults does not match FNU's wording. Second, confirm who issued it. A card from an AHA-approved training center counts, but a certificate from an online vendor that is none of those three does not fit the catalog's list.

BLS must stay current through clinical, not only on the day you upload it. If your card will expire during the 751, 752 or 753 course, renew it before the practicum starts rather than mid-rotation, when a lapse would leave you out of compliance partway through a course.

Why ACLS does not replace BLS

The catalog closes the BLS requirement with a plain line: “ACLS is not a substitute.” Many applicants hold ACLS through an emergency, ICU or labor and delivery job and assume it covers the basics. FNU treats them as separate certifications, and an ACLS card on its own will not clear the BLS item in CastleBranch.

The reason sits in FNU's own wording. The requirement is BLS for adults, pediatrics and infants, the core resuscitation skills across every age group you may see in family, women's health, psychiatric or midwifery practice. ACLS is an advanced course built on top of BLS rather than a replacement for the BLS card itself. If your employer runs the two together, keep both cards and upload the BLS one.

PALS is not required either. Holding it does no harm, but it does not stand in for BLS any more than ACLS does.

NRP for nurse-midwifery students

Nurse-midwifery students must also maintain current neonatal resuscitation certification “through the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) or an AAP approved course,” and the catalog adds that all lessons must be completed. The Clinical Bound prerequisites list describes the certification as offered by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association.

The requirement fits the rest of the midwifery plan. Every midwifery student needs 40 births and 40 newborn assessments, with at least eight births in a hospital, so neonatal resuscitation is a skill you may need on any labor and delivery shift. See midwifery births for the full counts.

If your NRP course has an online part and a hands-on part, finish both before you upload, since FNU asks for every lesson to be complete. WHNP students do not need NRP, but, like midwifery students, they must keep fetal heart monitoring education current.

Timing: getting cards into CastleBranch

Both cards are part of clinical compliance in CastleBranch. Clinical Credentialing emails you in Week 1 of the term before your Clinical Bound term, and the items are due in Week 5. Missing items block registration for Clinical Bound and every course taken with it.

Plan backward from two dates. The first is Week 5 of the term before Clinical Bound, when the card must be valid to upload. The second is the end of your last practicum course, when it must still be valid. A card that covers both avoids a renewal in the middle of a clinical term, when time off to sit a course is hardest to find.

For DNP students volunteering at a project site, BLS sits on the compliance list completed through DNP850, which must be on file before registration for DNP851.

Pairing your certifications with the right site

Certification is yours to book, and we plan the placement around it. A placement advisor seeks out a preceptor and site suited to your track, including, for midwifery students, a hospital birth site where those NRP skills are put to daily use, and puts together with you the details the CSAF and Clinical Credentialing will look for.

FNU approves each site through your RCF and Clinical Credentialing, and with your cards current in CastleBranch and the CSAF complete, that review has what it needs. Contact the placement desk when your search starts.