February 21, 2018
Enable cookies to see embeded content. In this episode of Big Ideas Theater, Jessica Schweller MS, RRT, RRT-SDS, RN, CNP, discusses the difference between central sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea. Schweller explains the importance of regular patient evaluation for central sleep apnea because a patient’s health status is ever-changing. Schweller opens this episode describing... Read more »
February 7, 2018
Respiratory therapists are known for their expertise in airway management, and nowhere are those skills more valued than in the ICU. Two AARC members share recent stories illustrating just how important it is to keep best practices top of mind when managing the airway in patients who are critically ill. Blunt chest trauma A challenging... Read more »
November 28, 2017
A team of AARC members from across North America embarked on a new clinical practice guideline development program earlier this November. Their work will continue through the next year and they have set publication goals of 2019. Clinical Guideline Team members hard at work during their kick-off workshop. This effort is made possible by the... 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 »
August 22, 2017
Mastering clinical acid-base is key to providing respiratory care, and now RTs can take advantage of a free Kindle Edition e-book on the topic available August 23-27 on Amazon. All you’ll need is the Kindle app and an Amazon account to purchase the free e-book. Written by Benjamin Abelow, MD, The Painless Guide to Mastering... Read more »
August 21, 2017
The COPD National Action Plan released by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute last spring included five overarching goals aimed at: Promoting public awareness and understanding of COPD. Increasing the skills and education of health care providers. Encouraging increased data collection, analysis, and sharing. Increasing and sustaining COPD research. Fostering collaboration to translate the... Read more »
July 11, 2017
USP Chapter 800 takes effect July 1, 2018, and medical facilities are likely reviewing and implementing all of the precautions set forth in the chapter now in order to meet the new standards. Health care professionals who administer hazardous drugs (HDs) will come under new protections as of July 1, 2018. USP Chapter 800 will... Read more »
July 10, 2017
Cross-training intubation skills at Texas Health Southwest in Fort Worth has proven successful with more than half of the RTs in the cardiopulmonary department now handling Code Blue intubations. At Texas Health Southwest in Fort Worth, CRNAs traditionally managed emergent intubations. This included paging them to the floor unit and pulling them away from the... Read more »
May 9, 2017
AARC members Dean Hess, PhD, RRT, FAARC, and Richard Branson, MS, RRT, FAARC, are among the authors of a new set of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Published in this month’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the evidence-based CPGs focus on the use of mechanical ventilation in adult... Read more »
February 9, 2017
Respiratory therapists may soon see a change in the way their cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are diagnosed with the disease. An international group of researchers publishing in a supplement to this month’s edition of The Journal of Pediatrics has developed a new set of guidelines that widen the diagnostic criteria. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation... Read more »