Sleep Chair
Jessica Schweller, MS, RRT, RRT-SDS, APRN-CNP
The Ohio State University Lung and Sleep Center
Sleep Nurse Practitioner
Member Since: 2010
AARC Activities:
- AARC, Member, 2011-present
- Active member of Sleep Section
- Presenter at AARC Congress, 2011-2013, 2015, 2016-2017
- Represented AARC at ASBA Sleep and Wellness Conference, 2014
- Published 2 articles in May 2014 and June 2014, Reviewed several articles, 2014
- Active member Ohio Society for Respiratory Care (OSRC) and presenter at OSRC statewide meeting, 2012
- Served on a panel discussion in 2012 on Sleep and Respiratory Therapy
- AARC Specialty Practitioner of the Year, Sleep Section, 2016
- Served as interim Sleep Section Chair, 2017-present
Affiliate Activities:
- American Lung Association, O2 Society President, 2010-2012
- Member OSRC, 2011-present
- Education Committee Member, ASBA Sleep And Wellness Conference, 2014
- Academic Advisory Committee member for The Ohio State University Respiratory Therapy program, 2009-present
Related Organizations:
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine member, 2009-present
- Ohio Association for Advanced Practice Nurses member, 2008-present
- American Academy of Nurse Practitioners member, 2008-present
- Certified Basic Life Support Instructor-Trainer, 2004-2006
Education:
- BS, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2004
- MS, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2008
- Credentials: RRT-SDS, RN, CNP
Publications:
- AARC Times, May 2014
- AARC Times, June 2014
- Advance for Respiratory Care and Sleep Medicine, 2014
Elections Committee Questions:
What AARC or Chartered Affiliate offices/positions have you held where you feel you made a significant contribution to our profession? What is the contribution and how will you apply it to your new position, if elected?
As president of the O2 Society, I was able to increase membership to include participants who were active in the community raising awareness of lung disease. I feel that my enthusiasm and leadership potential that I can bring to the sleep section can help raise membership in the section and improve awareness of the RT role in sleep. In the past year, I have served as the interim chair for the sleep section and feel that I have been able to increase communication among members, get more new members involved in activities such as Congress, and plan to continue to grow the sleep section in any way possible.
Multidiscipline development of national guidelines creates values to the AARC’s external stakeholders. Through collaboration, the excellent work and knowledge found in the membership can be disseminated through other organizations, leading to decreased costs, risk of untoward events, and increase the quality of care provided.
What experience would you bring to the AARC to accomplish the goals set out by President Walsh?
Currently serving as the interim chair, I feel I have seen what it takes to serve as the chair long term and have an idea as to what still needs to done to make the sleep section more successful. I have ideas and can be charismatic to lead others.
What ideas do you have to attract non-members to join the AARC?
Low membership – Continue to try and encourage therapists to join AARC first and to engage in the sleep section. I would also like to work on implementing membership to non-therapists in sleep as I feel this would be a valuable resource for our community, such as sleep physicians and fellows.
Lack of representation at Congress – I have tried to increase submissions this past year for the upcoming Congress, but many of the good topics were denied. I would like to try and work with the committee responsible for Congress selections and try to improve representation with sleep. Also, I have already begun rallying for our section to nominate someone for the specialty practitioner award as we are many times left out due to lack of nomination.
Role-Specific Questions:
How would you, as a member of the AARC Executive Committee, work to move the profession forward based on the work done by our current and previous presidents?
Currently, our membership is too low to hold a seat on the Board of Directors and I would like to try and change that. My plan is to increase enrollment by recruiting new grads and students as well as current members who have an active interest in sleep. My dream would be to get the board seat back and be able to work hand in hand to continue to improve the AARC as a whole.
