Study Finds Respiratory Care Instruction Very Limited In Nursing Schools

by Robert Czachowski, PhD

The Indiana University Center for Survey Research (CSR) conducted a nationwide study comparing the number of hours of respiratory care instruction in nursing schools with that of respiratory therapy programs for the American Association for Respiratory Care. The study's major conclusion is that respiratory care instruction is very limited in nursing programs when compared to respiratory therapy programs. This article details the survey results, methodology, and discussion of the study.

Study objectives
1992 AARC President Robert Demers, BS, RRT, established the Ad Hoc Committee to Review Allied Health Curricula during his presidency to conduct a study comparing respiratory care curricula with those of other health care professions. The committee's main objective was to identify cross-training opportunities for respiratory care practitioners as well as to determine the additional respiratory care instruction that other health professionals would need before providing respiratory care to patients.

The committee examined the curricula of a number of allied health professions and determined that a curricula comparison should be made between respiratory care and nursing programs exclusively. Furthermore, the committee felt that the scope of the analysis should be limited to a discrete set of 15 typical respiratory care procedures rather than a comparison of the entire curricula of each program.

University research agency conducts survey
In order to ensure the validity and objectivity of the survey, the AARC sought an outside | agency to conduct the study. In addition, the study had to be completed in a timely manner. The AARC Board of Directors suggested that requests for proposals be sent to universities that conduct research for clients.

Five university research agencies were asked to submit proposals, but only three chose to submit bids. Ultimately, the AARC selected the Indiana University Center for Survey Research to undertake the project.

Study methodology
The survey was pretested from Dec. 2, 1993, through Jan. 5, 1994. Twenty-five nursing schools and 15 respiratory therapy programs were randomly selected to serve as the pretest respondents. The information gathered from those pretest surveys led to minor modifications to the final questionnaire.

The survey was conducted from Feb. 14 through June 24, 1994. A total of 1,077 nursing schools and 223 respiratory therapy programs participated (see survey samples below).

The following procedures were used in collecting the data from nursing schools: On Feb. 14, 1994, a four-page mail questionnaire, a cover letter on CSR stationery explaining the study, and a postage-paid return envelope were mailed to nursing schools. Approximately one month later, a postcard was mailed to all nursing schools in the sample, thanking them for returning the questionnaire if they had already done so and urging them to return the questionnaire if they had not. By the end of March, 615 questionnaires had been returned.

On April 1, the CSR sent a second questionnaire, letter, and postage-paid return envelope to those nursing programs that had not responded. On May 6, the CSA began calling the 548 institutions from whom no response had been received in an attempt to determine the reasons form nonparticipation. As a result of the telephone calls, 311 institutions asked for a third questionnaire. These participants were assigned a special code and then received another questionnaire by mail. This resulted in another 157 questionnaires being returned by nursing programs prior to the cutoff date of June 24, 1994.

Whenever CSR telephone interviewers were told by nursing programs that the questionnaire would not be returned, they attempted to ascertain why. Thus, special finalization codes were given to those cases in which such information was obtained.

On Feb. 21, respiratory therapy programs were sent a letter on AARC stationery stating that a questionnaire was enclosed. Two days later, the CSR began receiving calls on its 800-number from respondents stating that the questionnaire had not been included. On Feb. 24, the CSR sent out a second mailing that included the questionnaire and a letter from the CSR apologizing for the oversight.

On March 17, the CSR sent a postcard to all of the respiratory therapy programs, thanking them for returning the questionnaire if they had already done so and urging them to do so if they had not. By April 15, CSR had received 134 returned questionnaires. On that date, a second questionnaire and letter were sent to programs that had not responded.

By May 24, 1994, 128 respiratory therapy programs still had not responded, so CSR telephone interviewers began calling those institutions. As with the nursing school respondents, respiratory therapy program respondents were urged to return a mail questionnaire. If they refused to do so, telephone interviewers were instructed to ascertain why, and a special finalization code was assigned.

A total of 59 questionnaires were sent to respiratory therapy programs during a third mailing. Prior to the cutoff date of June 24, CSR had received 34 answered questionnaires.

A few of the final dispositions need further explanation. "Refusal by informant for respondent during phone call" means that CSR telephone interviewers were unable to speak directly with the named respondent and were told by an informant that the respondent would not be completing the survey. "Respondent persistently unavailable by phone: indicates that a telephone interviewer left numerous messages for the respondent with an informant or on voice mail, but the calls were never returned and neither was a questionnaire.

"No questionnaire returned" means that although CSR interviewers called the institution and were told that the mail questionnaire would be returned, the questionnaire had not reached the CSR by the cutoff date of June 24, 1994.

The CSR entered the data into its computer using the Computer-Assisted Survey Execution System. In order to maintain a high standard of quality and accuracy in the survey, the CSR monitored coding and data entry periodically. Approximately 10 percent of the returned questionnaires were randomly chosen and rechecked to determine that the correct data had been entered.

Details of study results
The information collected from the various programs on the 15 respiratory therapy tasks is presented in nine figures throughout this article.

Figure 1 reflects responses from associate degree registered nurse programs. Data collected from registered nurse diploma programs is shown in Figure 2. The frequency distribution for registered nurse baccalaureate degree programs is in Figure 3. Figures 4 and 5 display outcomes from respiratory therapy technician and respiratory therapist programs, respectively.

In each category, although a respondent might have indicated that a certain kind of program was offered, some respondents answered no questions regarding the number of hours for individual tasks.

Frequently, a respondent provided unusable data.. However, in almost every instance, the respondent provided a written comment and not a numerical answer. For example, respondents often indicated "don't know" when answering a particular questions which explains why there is a disparity between the total number of respondents to the survey and the numbers in any of the columns. A total of 637 of the respondents indicated that they offer an associate degree program in nursing; these 637 respondents should have answered Section 2 of the questionnaire that asked about contact hours. However, 20 of the respondents answered no questions in Section 2; therefore, the frequency distributions describe the data for only 617 cases.

Also, 79 nursing school respondents indicated that they offer a three-year degree program, but six of the returned questionnaires had no data in the section for diploma programs.

And while 360 nursing school respondents indicated they offer an entry-level baccalaureate degree program, 37 of them answered no questions at all in the section on contact hours. Therefore, the data for only 323 programs is contained in the frequency distributions.

Written comments provided by all respondents were collected by CSR and, in the case of nursing programs, comprised 303 pages of text.

The information presented in the first column of the nursing school tables in Figures 1-3 is broken down into minutes and hours. In each case, the first number depicts the number of respondents and the second depicts the mean contact time. The survey questionnaire asked specifically for contact hours. When completed surveys were submitted, however, many nursing school programs had responded not in hours but in minutes. This prompted the CSR to enter the data in a separate column for minutes.

Some nursing school respondents indicated "0" time was spent teaching or learning a specific task in a given setting, or they left that portion of the survey blank. Although these programs were included in calculating means, they have been separated out to demonstrate the frequency that a topic is not even introduced in a given setting. These data are reflected in Figures 6, 7, and 9.

Study findings similar to those of other surveys
An examination of the data collected in this study appears to substantiate findings of similar surveys conducted by AARC state affiliates in Texas, Florida, and Kentucky. In each instance, the state surveyors concluded that the teaching of respiratory therapy subjects in nursing schools was extremely limited.

In Kentucky, the figures suggested that between 1.l percent and 1.4 percent of the total contact hours in nursing programs in that state were devoted to respiratory care procedures. In Texas, the numbers ranged between .2 percent and 1.1 percent. The Florida study compared gross numbers and suggested that in some skill areas, therapist training exceeded nurse training by 36 times.

The significant difference in the current study and these earlier surveys is that the current study reflects data collected from the entire United States by an outside agency (CSR) with unimpeachable credentials.

Faculty information
Another piece of information collected was faculty composition of both nursing and respiratory care programs. Figure 8 depicts the involvement of respiratory care practitioners in the education of nurses. The figure in parentheses indicates the total number of respondents. The numbers in the columns indicate the number of nursing education programs employing one or more respiratory care practitioners.

An analysis of written comments on this subject suggests that hospitalbased diploma programs utilize staff of the sponsoring hospital in a faculty role. The sharing of faculty from a respiratory therapy program co-located at the same college or university is a normal procedure.

One hospital-based program respondent even related that "guest lecturers" from the respiratory therapy department were used. Another respondent regretted the lack of collaboration of nursing and RC faculty, saying that the respiratory therapist instructors do not like the nursing faculty to show nursing students anything about the ventilators. The respondent said, "They have advised us to teach (nursing) students the phone number of respiratory care!"

Summary of study findings
The findings of this study suggest that the entry-level registered nurse, regardless of the source of education, will have had extremely limited didactic instruction in the 15 typical respiratory therapy procedures included in this survey. The significance of that difference is magnified when compared to respiratory therapy programs, which have provided much more instruction in these procedures. Factoring in the number of programs that do not even address some of these respiratory therapy tasks, there should be real concern about arbitrarily transferring respiratory care responsibilities in the clinical setting.

Furthermore, the inability of nursing school respondents to provide hard data regarding clinical experience/practice makes the issue even more problematic. Clinical exposure of nursing students to respiratory procedures may or may not occur, depending on patient availability. This situation creates another gap in the knowledge base of the entry-level nurse. Additionally, nursing school faculties are dominated by nurse educators. Utilization of respiratory care practitioners as faculty in nursing schools is severely limited, with none at all being utilized in the associate degree programs responding to this survey.

By no means do the data from this study suggest that nurses are incapable of performing the specific respiratory care tasks included in the survey. However, it is clear that entry-level nurses who do not obtain significant postgraduate education cannot perform respiratory care procedures.

Without evidence of the necessary educational preparation and a demonstrated ability to perform typical respiratory care tasks, the transfer of job responsibility should be seriously considered prior to any such undertaking.

Robert Czachowski is the AARC's director of education.

Figure 1. Mean time spent in Associate Degree Nursing Programs teaching 15 selected subjects. n=617*
  Didactic or Classroom** Nonclassical Laboratory Clinical Experience/Practice
Subjects Programs/Minutes Programs/Hours Programs Hours Programs Hours
Oxygen Therapy 82/30 443/2.4 286 1.8 218 21.2
Mechanical Ventilators 135/25 349/1.6 229 .71 232 10.2
Chest Physiotherapy 235/30 225/1.3 192 .79 175 7.2
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) Therapy 241/21 161/.9 173 .21 160 3.5
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) 222/20 171/.84 176 .2 157 3.8
Incentive Spirometry 326/21 126/1.4 136 .6 184 13.9
Aerosolized Drug Administration 257/21 149/1.2 161 .7 159 6.9
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) 249/19 141/.87 142 .2 141 9.0
Pulse Oximetry/ Transcutaneous 02 and C02 Monitoring 298/20 169/1.45 168 .32 181 10.7
Pulmonary Function Testing 282/22 169/1.37 183 .10 159 1.4
Respiratory Home Care 115/20 242/.46 198 .07 178 .8
Arterial Puncture 117/19 205/.28 203 .17 180 1.9
Arterial Blood Gas Analysis 75/24 438/2.33 238 .87 210 8.9
Intubation and Extubation 192/30 243/1.04 200 .32 173 3.6
Hemodynamic Monitoring 131/26 338/1.92 212 .62 188 7.9

* n=sample size

** Due to many nursing school respondents' survey responses in minutes (not hours), these means are separate in each category; total respondents can be determined by adding the two columns together.


Figure 2. Mean time spent in Diploma (Three-Year) Nursing Programs teaching 15 selected subjects. n=73*
  Didactic or Classroom** Nonclassical Laboratory Clinical Experience/Practice
Subjects Programs/Minutes Programs/Hours Programs Hours Programs Hours
Oxygen Therapy 8/25 59/2.7 38 1.5 31 68.7
Mechanical Ventilators 4/21 58/2.2 31 1.3 36 41.5
Chest Physiotherapy 35/21 25/1.3 20 .8 20 3
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) Therapy 35/20 16/.87 14 1.07 13 3.3
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) 38/20 19/1.05 14 .35 25 19.8
Incentive Spirometry 54/20 7/1.57 13 1.1 22 97.6
Aerosolized Drug Administration 45/17 8/1 13 .07 17 62
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) 42/17 13/.92 13 .3 16 12.3
Pulse Oximetry/ Transcutaneous 02 and C02 Monitoring 33/21 26/1.5 13 .15 25 36.5
Pulmonary Function Testing 38/21 23/1.4 15 .2 21 4.33
Respiratory Home Care 18/19 25/.48 14 0 22 .23
Arterial Puncture 34/21 16/.31 16 .2 24 19
Arterial Blood Gas Analysis 9/26 55/2.5 28 .96 23 27
Intubation and Extubation 19/23 38/1.28 21 .81 26 18
Hemodynamic Monitoring 8/27 53/2.5 30 1.03 35 46

* n=sample size

** Due to many nursing school respondents' survey responses in minutes (not hours), these means are separate in each category; total respondents can be determined by adding the two columns together.


Figure 3. Mean time spent in Baccalaureate Degree Nursing Programs Teaching 15 selected subjects. n=313*
  Didactic or Classroom** Nonclassical Laboratory Clinical Experience/Practice
Subjects Programs/Minutes Programs/Hours Programs Hours Programs Hours
Oxygen Therapy 53/30 210/2.46 151 2.0 148 24.4
Mechanical Ventilators 56/27 198/1.5 135 .72 141 14.9
Chest Physiotherapy 140/26 115/1.5 119 .76 105 10.2
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) Therapy 131/22 87/.7 106 .21 92 3.5
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) 144/23 82/.78 103 .17 98 7.7
Incentive Spirometry 166/22 79/1.05 87 .81 108 14.7
Aerosolized Drug Administration 137/22 81/.93 90 .15 92 4.2
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) 145/22 74/.75 86 .40 81 5.3
Pulse Oximetry/ Transcutaneous 02 and C02 Monitoring 146/30 93/1.09 102 .46 121 16.5
Pulmonary Function Testing 153/24 94/1.03 109 .13 86 1.4
Respiratory Home Care 81/26 124/.76 12 1.9 91 3.2
Arterial Puncture 93/21 112/.42 117 .14 99 1.6
Arterial Blood Gas Analysis 39/30 233/2.15 124 .69 129 9.9
Intubation and Extubation 92/26 138/1.3 117 .40 97 7.4
Hemodynamic Monitoring 44/28 218/2.16 133 .99 129 15.2

* n=sample size

** Due to many nursing school respondents' survey responses in minutes (not hours), these means are separate in each category; total respondents can be determined by adding the two columns together.


Survey's Nursing School Sample
1,077 Questionnaires completed and returned (72 percent return rate)
7 Refusal by informant for respondent during phone call
8 Refusal by respondent during phone call; no explanation given
82 Respondent persistently unavailable by phone
19 Refusal at phone call: No time to do questionnaires, too many questionnaires received
11 Refusal at phone call: Questionnaire too time-consuming
9 Refusal at phone call: Inappropriate questionnaire; questionnaire not for nursing programs
1 Respondent away for duration; no one else able to complete questionnaire
6 Nursing program closed or closing
18 Screen out; No associate, three-year, or baccalaureate degrees offered
5 Screen out at phone call: No entry-level nursing program
254 No questionnaire returned
4 Duplicates
3 Institution never reached by phone; numerous attempts made
1,504 Total questionnaires attempted


Figure 4. Mean time spent in Respiratory Therapy Technician Programs teaching 15 selected subjects. n=94*
  Didactic or Classroom Nonclassical Laboratory Clinical Experience/Practice
Subjects Programs/Minutes Programs/Hours Programs Hours Programs Hours
Oxygen Therapy 88 15 86 16.4 74 57.3
Mechanical Ventilators 85 41 84 30.9 74 127.5
Chest Physiotherapy 74 7.9 83 7.7 72 34.7
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) Therapy 84 9.3 83 9.4 72 29.5
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) 82 6.1 79 6.21 71 22.6
Incentive Spirometry 84 4.3 81 5.17 72 32.1
Aerosolized Drug Administration 83 14.7 83 9.2 70 72.6
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) 79 4.7 78 4.15 70 33.5
Pulse Oximetry/ Transcutaneous 02 and C02 Monitoring 84 5.1 81 4.6 73 29.1
Pulmonary Function Testing 87 15.1 82 9.9 74 21.1
Respiratory Home Care 85 7.2 73 3.65 80 12.65
Arterial Puncture 84 5.69 83 7.5 68 35
Arterial Blood Gas Analysis 82 14 70 4.8 66 34.2
Intubation and Extubation 85 7.61 82 8.47 72 22.65
Hemodynamic Monitoring 85 5.4 70 3.75 69 11.65

* n=sample size


Survey's Respiratory Therapy Program Sample
223 Questionnaires completed and returned (70 percent return rate)
3 Refusal by respondent during phone call; no explanation given
33 Respondent persistently unavailable by phone
3 Refusal at phone call: No time to do questionnaires, too many questionnaires received
1 Refusal at phone call: Questionnaire too time-consuming
3 Respiratory therapy program closed or closing
1 Screen out at phone call: No registered or certified respiratory therapy program
56 No questionnaire returned
323 Total questionnaires attempted


Figure 5. Mean time spent in Respiratory Therapy Technician Programs teaching 15 selected subjects. n=181*
  Didactic or Classroom Nonclassical Laboratory Clinical Experience/Practice
Subjects Programs/Minutes Programs/Hours Programs Hours Programs Hours
Oxygen Therapy 168 18.69 165 13.2 142 67.37
Mechanical Ventilators 164 44.88 167 33 142 227.8
Chest Physiotherapy 166 6 166 5.8 142 42.4
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) Therapy 165 6.5 165 6.27 140 30.8
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) 164 6 160 4.56 132 41
Incentive Spirometry 165 3.24 160 3.19 142 38.97
Aerosolized Drug Administration 160 12.15 159 6.2 136 80.2
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) 154 4 145 2.88 135 48.2
Pulse Oximetry/ Transcutaneous 02 and C02 Monitoring 168 5.97 157 3.82 136 54.97
Pulmonary Function Testing 169 20.9 163 11.76 151 41.2
Respiratory Home Care 165 10.38 142 3.2 155 25.1
Arterial Puncture 160 4.49 159 5.1 135 50.26
Arterial Blood Gas Analysis 164 12 146 4.16 136 52.86
Intubation and Extubation 166 8 166 7 141 40.92
Hemodynamic Monitoring 172 16.97 156 5.9 141 49

* n=sample size


Figure 6. Number of Associate Degree Nursing Programs that entered zero or left blank the number of hours spent teaching in various settings. n=617*
  Didactic or Classroom Nonclassical Laboratory Clinical Experience/Practice
Oxygen Therapy 52 70 163
Mechanical Ventilators 107 436 209
Chest Physiotherapy 135 448 266
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) Therapy 168 187 313
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) 195 495 315
Incentive Spirometry 94 375 207
Aerosolized Drug Administration 178 457 283
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) 188 461 280
Pulse Oximetry/ Transcutaneous 02 and C02 Monitoring 107 462 213
Pulmonary Function Testing 127 529 359
Respiratory Home Care 345 542 402
Arterial Puncture 400 533 402
Arterial Blood Gas Analysis 57 460 235
Intubation and Extubation 266 486 360
Hemodynamic Monitoring 137 479 265

* n=sample size


Figure 7. Number of Diploma Nursing Programs that entered zero or left blank the number of hours spent teaching in various settings. n=73*
  Didactic or Classroom Nonclassical Laboratory Clinical Experience/Practice
Oxygen Therapy 3 34 17
Mechanical Ventilators 39 16 16
Chest Physiotherapy 12 48 29
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) Therapy 21 44 34
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) 16 53 27
Incentive Spirometry 8 45 19
Aerosolized Drug Administration 14 57 31
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) 13 52 27
Pulse Oximetry/ Transcutaneous 02 and C02 Monitoring 12 52 15
Pulmonary Function Testing 11 56 33
Respiratory Home Care 38 62 43
Arterial Puncture 26 62 43
Arterial Blood Gas Analysis 5 49 21
Intubation and Extubation 15 53 29
Hemodynamic Monitoring 10 46 21

* n=sample size


Figure 8. Number of Nursing Education Programs employing one or more respiratory care practitioners
  Full-time RRT Full-time CRTT Part-time RRT Part-time CRTT
Nursing Associate Degree Program (79)* 0 0 0 0
Nursing Diploma Program (637)* 25 6 22 10
Nursing Baccalaureate Program (360)* 6 4 0 14
* Number in parentheses indicates total number of respondents.


Figure 9. Number of Baccalaureate Degree Nursing Programs that entered zero or left blank the number of hours spent teaching in various settings. n=73*
  Didactic or Classroom Nonclassical Laboratory Clinical Experience/Practice
Oxygen Therapy 36 100 78
Mechanical Ventilators 67 210 99
Chest Physiotherapy 71 202 148
Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) Therapy 107 247 166
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) 96 254 144
Incentive Spirometry 70 190 114
Aerosolized Drug Administration 103 144 147
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) 100 229 141
Pulse Oximetry/ Transcutaneous 02 and C02 Monitoring 74 214 106
Pulmonary Function Testing 73 264 179
Respiratory Home Care 139 267 181
Arterial Puncture 162 269 197
Arterial Blood Gas Analysis 42 230 109
Intubation and Extubation 110 241 161
Hemodynamic Monitoring 71 220 116

* n=sample size


Survey participants' comments on respiratory care instruction
Questionnaires often prompt interesting responses from survey participants. The following are some comments made by those who answered this survey question "Is there anything about respiratory care education that you would like to add?"

Comments of Participants from Nursing Schools
"Not at this time-no time to fit it in."

"Nursing education related to respiratory therapy is based on the clients and their responses or needs. It is, therefore, more theoretical vs technological"

"We do offer a new elective entitled 'Nursing Care of the Client with Pulmonary Dysfunction,' which addresses many of the respiratory care procedures."

"We are very fortunate that the chair of the respiratory care department guest lectures to our nursing students on oxygen therapy, blood gases, and ventilator­total six hours."

"Integrated throughout curriculum as 'disrupted air need.' More time needed to address respiratory care than our curriculum allows."

"Each of our students spends one day of clinical with a Respiratory Therapist I in our hospital. The feedback is excellent, along with the spontaneous teaching that occurs throughout the day"

"Possibly a clinical rotation through that area would be helpful and/or a lecture demonstration of equipment by a respiratory therapist."

"{Would} be nice to have a respirator in lab to demonstrate, but such equipment is out of reach for our budget."

"We plan to add pulse oximetry"

"It is more than covered in the curriculum­clinical sites now tend to utilize RN in lieu of respiratory tech"

"We usually have a respiratory therapist come in and do a two-hour class for us"

"Not expected to function as respiratory therapists. Complex therapies."

"We assign students to the cardio pulmonary team for a one to two day experience-students then are able to see pulmonary function tests, how ABGs are drawn and analyzed, etc. They follow the RT on the floor as they do ultrasonic nebulization, monitor ventilator patients, etc."

"Students spend six hours with respiratory therapy department and six hours in cardiac testing areas while in med-surg nursing. Experiences in hospital can vary for each student..."

"Our focus is more heavily on health assessment (history, listening to the lungs etc.), prevention of pulmonary disease, understanding the pathophysiology of common obstructive and restrictive pulmonary disease, and the related NSG care. Our settings almost always have respiratory care techs who do many of the procedures. That will change, I'm sure, as we move out of the hospitals and move into patients' homes more frequently."

"We do not focus on procedures except in a few circumstances. We focus on theory related to pathophysiological problems and nursing and medical interventions. Most practice comes in clinical, with no guaranteed number of hours of practice for each skill."

"The amount of clinical experience each student receives varies with the type of client for whom they provide care. Assurance that all receive the some opportunities is impossible."

"We do not focus on machines. We realize that assessment must take in information gained from technology, so an understanding of machines is expected. However, we do not prepare technicians "

"Would like to give the students more exposure to ventilator care, but there is a time constraint"

Comments of participants from respiratory therapy programs
"Before we add anything else, we should delete or deemphasize some of the trivial and 'nice to know' topics"

"I am convinced that the development of respiratory care consult services are the key to the future of our profession. Everything possible must be done to ensure their implementation throughout the country."

"Expand more into cardiovascular areas"

"More geriatrics and interdisciplinary teamwork"

"Make multiskills part of the standard curriculum to ensure our future as a strong medical profession"

"Sleep studies and smoking cessation"

"Assessment skills will be more and more important as therapist driven protocols continue to grow"

"Hyperbaric medicine and possibly ECMO."

"The professional knowledge base is expanding so rapidly, it's a struggle to keep up."

"More classroom time; prerequisite courses; structured lab"

"Smoking cessation training or tobacco prevention"

"Our clinical training is no longer contact-hour based but rather procedure based. Students must perform a certain number of procedures rather than spend a predetermined number of days in a rotation"

Ad Hoc Committee To Review Allied Health Curricula
Ralph Bartel, MEd, RRT, Chair
Bill Galvin, MSEd, RRT, CPFT
Jackie Long, MEd, RRT
David Matuszak, PhD, RRT
Marc Mays, MS, RRT
Robert Czachowski, PhD, AARC Staff


Top of Page | Back | Home