February 1, 2018
Beaumont Hospital in Michigan started a new breathing exercise group called the Half-Notes, a harmonica ensemble. AARC Member Teena Culhane, BS, RRT of Beaumont Hospital in Michigan helped create a Harmonicas for Health class within the hospital’s pulmonary rehab program last November. The group is called the Half-Notes and they performed for the very first... Read more »
January 9, 2018
Best practices for ventilator management in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been outlined by the scientific literature. But out in the real world, they aren’t always followed. A new study out of the Mayo Clinic finds an RT-driven order set can turn that situation around, and AARC member Verlin Weber, BS,... Read more »
December 11, 2017
ARDS survivors tell their stories in the Foundation’s Voices of ARDS campaign. Eileen Rubin is making a difference for patients and families dealing with ARDS. Positive and negative experiences make lasting memories, shaping and directing our future decisions and planning. Keeping our focus on delivering genuine care to patients will help them better understand their... Read more »
November 28, 2017
As medical director of the Women’s Respiratory Health Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and an investigator for the COPDGene study and the Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures In COPD study, Meilan Han, MD, MS, is intimately familiar with the needs of the COPD population. She addressed many of those concerns during... Read more »
November 7, 2017
Pulmonary rehabilitation and patient education can help COPD patients regain lost functioning and enjoy a better quality of life. The trick is making sure patients maintain those gains over time. Three AARC members who work with these patients know what it takes; and it begins and ends with exercise. Patient’s new normal “We continuously stress... Read more »
September 11, 2017
Developed at the request of Congress by the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute, the first ever published COPD National Action Plan was released on May 23, 2017 with input from the AARC, COPD Foundation, and the broad COPD community. The plan provides an outline for respiratory therapists and others to take coordinated actions to improve... Read more »
June 21, 2017
In 2016, the AARC circulated a survey aimed at looking at the role of the respiratory therapist in pre- and post-discharge practices specific to COPD. Now the results are in, and according to AARC Executive Director Thomas Kallstrom, MBA, RRT, FAARC, who co-authored an abstract on the study that was presented at the recent American... Read more »
May 22, 2017
The AARC was on hand for the press conference held Monday morning to announce the COPD National Action Plan. The final version of the COPD National Action Plan was released May 23 during a panel discussion that took place during the American Thoracic Society conference in Washington, DC. “Sixteen million Americans have been diagnosed with... Read more »
April 26, 2017
Respiratory therapists know pulmonary rehabilitation can help COPD patients regain lost functioning, and many believe these patients can be effectively treated at home when the condition flares up as well. In a new set of guidelines aimed at helping clinicians care for COPD patients with an acute exacerbation, the American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory... Read more »
March 21, 2017
A new study funded by a grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation finds a disturbing difference in life expectancy between people with cystic fibrosis here in the U.S. and those in Canada. Specifically, Canadians with the disease live, on average, ten years longer than Americans with the condition. The study was based on a comparison... Read more »