PEARS skills station — what's actually evaluated vs what's just practice?
Taking my PEARS course next month and I'm trying to understand what the skills station actually tests. I've done BLS before so the compressions aren't new to me, but pediatric assessment feels different — the systematic approach, the TICLS mnemonic, all of that.
From what I've read, the written portion is about 25 questions and the skills stations cover bag-mask ventilation and the assess-categorize-decide-act sequence. But I can't find clear info on what specifically gets checked off versus what's just walkthrough. My hospital does these every 2 years so I want to actually know the material, not just get through it.
Anyone gone through the updated 2025 format? I've heard they adjusted the respiratory distress scenarios. Currently spending about 45 minutes a night reviewing the provider manual but I'm not sure if that's overkill for this level of certification.
I did PEARS about 8 months ago. The written test is straightforward if you understand the systematic approach. The trickiest questions were around differentiating respiratory distress from respiratory failure — knowing which interventions go with which presentation. Forty-five minutes a night for a few weeks is probably more than enough.
The TICLS mnemonic is genuinely tested — make sure you can apply it to a scenario, not just recite it. They'll give you a pediatric patient description and want you to work through it methodically. That's where people slip up.
Just did mine last week. The bag-mask station tripped up two people in my group who weren't sealing properly. Practice that one if you can get your hands on a mannequin beforehand — instructor feedback was immediate and pretty useful.
The skills stations are pass/fail but they're not as brutal as ACLS. You need to demonstrate the right sequence for the primary assessment and show correct bag-mask technique. If you've done BLS recently, the compressions will feel familiar.
The skills station is pass/fail on the critical actions, not technique polish. What they're actually checking is whether you can identify a sick kid using a systematic approach, recognize the category (respiratory distress vs failure vs shock etc.), and initiate the right interventions. TICLS matters because it's your foundation for the initial impression — if you can't explain why a child looks compensated vs decompensated, you'll second-guess yourself under pressure and that's where people stumble.
What helped me wasn't just knowing the right answer but understanding why the wrong ones fail. Like if a kid has increased work of breathing but good color and normal mental status, why isn't that respiratory failure yet? Once you get the actual physiology behind each category the mnemonics start clicking instead of feeling like random letters to memorize. The written test rewards that kind of thinking too, not just recall.
I actually failed my first attempt and honestly it came down to the pediatric assessment sequence. I knew the compressions were fine but I kept jumping to interventions before finishing the TICLS assessment and the instructor stopped me both times. The systematic approach isn't just a formality they're watching you do it, they want to see you complete the full look-listen-feel before you call anything out.
Second time I slowed down and verbalized everything out loud, like literally said "I'm now assessing tone, I'm noting the child appears limp" as I went. That's what changed it for me. The written portion is pretty straightforward if you've done your pre-course work, don't stress that part. It's the station where people get tripped up because under pressure you want to just do something, but they're testing whether you can stay in the assessment mindset first.