Interprofessional Opportunities in Sleep Practice

Interprofessional education has the potential to prepare health career students to be practice-ready and enter the workforce with a collaborative mindset. Respiratory care educators must adequately prepare students to work in this capacity. This emphasis on a team approach to patient-centered care has the ability to impact and improve health outcomes. Throughout the last decade, sleep medicine has experienced fluctuations. Sustainability of sleep labs who only perform diagnostic testing may prove challenging. The role of interprofessional practice in sleep medicine would be to overcome traditional roles (silos) so that multiple skilled practitioners could help identify and treat complex patient conditions. A review of the literature demonstrated how various providers can serve as active members of interprofessional health care teams. The opportunity to expand services and partner with other providers to detect, educate, and treat sleep disordered breathing could help laboratories endure and even thrive in the current health care system

Areas of Work-Life That Contribute to Burnout Among Higher Education Health Science Faculty and Perception of Institutional Support

Background: COVID-19 added responsibilities to faculty in health-related fields. Educators in these areas have experienced pandemic-related role strain in both the clinical and academic settings. Purpose: This investigation sought to identify how health science faculty at one institution perceived challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic in their role and to glean opportunities for institutions to increase the degree of support for faculty. Methods: An analysis of narrative comments was conducted on a survey assessing burnout and well-being. The survey was distributed to full-time faculty within the College of Health Sciences at a four-year institution. Using the areas of work-life model as a guide, two free-text questions within the survey were analysed to identify major themes. Results: 39 participants contributed narrative responses to the qualitative, open-ended questions. Three themes emerged related to the areas of work-life categories: work-life imbalance, stress and unwellness, and unmet support needs. Strategies for enhanced wellbeing were noted to be workload management, administrative support, and wellness opportunities. Conclusions: This analysis provides insight into why health science faculty may be experiencing feelings of disengagement and exhaustion in their work. Enhanced workload and lack of community during the pandemic were major drivers of this phenomenon. Flexibility in workload, genuine concern and appreciation expressed by institutional leaders, and accessible wellness opportunities may help to offset these negative feelings

Advances in Cystic Fibrosis

The purpose of this review was to identify the history of and advances in cystic fibrosis (CF). New treatment plans, medication developments, and a historical perspective of airway clearance therapy (ACT) will be presented. The importance of treatment compliance and time management in the care of cystic fibrosis patients will also be discussed. Furthermore, the development of cystic fibrosis clinics and the pivotal role they play in the treatment of the disease will be addressed. Lastly, a brief discussion concerning the need for and process of lung transplantation will be reported

Key Elements of a State Master Plan in Higher Education

A master plan in higher education is developed to address the academic and workforce needs of a particular state. The master plan helps serve as the roadmap for implementation of proposed strategies to reach state goals in education and degree attainment. In Tennessee, Drive to 55 is a state-wide effort to increase the number of Tennesseans with a higher education credential to 55% by the year 2025. In an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the key elements within state master plans, an independent review of ten state plans was conducted. The states involved in the analysis were Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, Colorado, Arkansas, Nevada, Louisiana, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The informal review revealed four key elements of state master plans in higher education: accessibility, affordability, accountability, and success. A consensus to reach underserved, underrepresented, or nontraditional students could be found among all ten states. Increasing accessibility to higher education can help abridge achievement gaps and eliminate disparities. Through responsible planning, management of resources, and assistance of those with demonstrated financial need, a quality higher education degree or credential that is affordable could be obtained. Accountability is measured in various ways by the ten states; however, clear expectations for performance are needed to ensure student success and positive institutional outcomes are experienced. A key element of success was noted to be college readiness and characteristics of students including determination and grit. Nine out of the ten states reviewed had some form of performance-based funding measures in place; providing incentives for institutions to help students successfully complete degree program

We’re in This Together: Student Motivation and Faculty Support in Online Degree Advancement During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this study was to identify the motivation for continued learning and degree attainment in online degree advancement (DA) respiratory care students (those with an associate degree pursuing a bachelor’s degree) during a pandemic and the types of support needed for academic success in the online learning environment. The design of the study was convergent mixed-methods descriptive survey research. Items from the Academic Motivation Scale-College Version (AMS-C) were used to assess the construct. Additionally, open-ended questions allowed for narrative responses related to the pandemic pressures, motivation regulation, and faculty support. One hundred twenty-three students completed various components of the survey. Respondents were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to continue to pursue their advanced degrees despite the pandemic. Students self-identified as being determined to achieve their goals and that support from family, friends, colleagues, and faculty helped them achieve their goals along with their instructors’ flexibility which helped ensure student success during the pandemic. Despite the pandemic, respiratory therapy (RT) students pursuing an advanced degree are self-determined and have a genuine love of learning, which helps regulate their motivation to continue. DA students in respiratory care appreciated flexible and supportive instructors in meeting their academic needs

Respiratory Therapists as Physician Extenders: Perceptions of Practitioners and Educators

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of practicing respiratory therapists (RT) and respiratory care educators regarding the role of RTs serving as physician extenders. Methods: The survey instrument was an electronic questionnaire that consisted of 17 questions. Participation was voluntary and participants were selected through random and convenience sampling techniques. Results: Of 506 respondents, 234 were respiratory care educators. Overwhelmingly, the respondents held the Registered Respiratory Therapist credential (92.7%). Respondents were about equally split among three education levels: 31.7% associate degree, 31.7% bachelor’s degree, and 27.3% master’s degree. Of the respondents 62.45% had considered pursing a degree in physician assistant (PA). Respondents expressed a preference for an Advanced Practice Respiratory Therapy (APRT) program (77.9%) rather than a PA program. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents reported they felt that a master’s degree should be the minimum level of education for an APRT. Conclusions: This study suggests that practitioners and educators alike are strongly supportive of advanced practice in the profession of respiratory therapy

Assessing Burnout and Well-Being in Higher Education Health Science Faculty

This study aimed to examine and compare the extent of burnout among health science faculty at a higher education institution and their self-reported perception of well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The design of the study was cross-sectional, descriptive survey research. An electronic questionnaire was developed to measure the constructs of burnout and well-being. Validated instruments used in the survey included the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and the World Health Organization-5 Well-being Index. The Qualtrics ® platform was used to distribute the survey to all full-time faculty within the College of Health Sciences. 45 respondents from nursing, community and environmental health, kinesiology, social work, respiratory care, allied health sciences, and radiologic sciences completed the survey. Significant differences were observed in the extent of burnout and perception of well-being between faculty members who had clinical teaching responsibilities within their faculty role compared to those who did not, p = 0.005, Partial Eta Squared = 0.318. Faculty with a 9-month contract appointment had significantly lower OLBI-Disengagement scores (p = 0.024) and OLBI-Full Burnout scores (p = 0.047) compared with those with another contract length. There was a significantly negative relationship between the extent of burnout and perception of well-being. In this sample of health science faculty, burnout, as characterized by increased exhaustion and disengagement, was moderately prevalent and associated with poorer well-being

From Opportunity to Necessity: Development of an Asynchronous Online Interprofessional Learning Experience

Incorporating interprofessional collaboration competencies into both undergraduate pre-licensure and graduate health science students poses challenges for academic health science centers. Certain student groups may have less opportunity to participate in interprofessional learning experiences due to demands of individual programs of study and conflicts in scheduling time with other disciplines. A group of interprofessional higher education faculty members created an innovative online asynchronous interprofessional experience with the primary goals of meeting accreditation standards for specific programs and providing interprofessional education (IPE) to students who were unable to participate in traditional face-to-face IPE experiences already established at the institution. This guide will highlight the process of design and development of the learning opportunity, from conception to implementation. The pilot of the asynchronous online IPE experience served as a model for the transition of the original in-person model to virtual IPE during the COVID-19 pandemic

New Faculty Mentoring in Respiratory Care Programs

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify mentoring practices of new faculty members in Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) accredited respiratory care programs in the U.S. and to identify the perceptions of program directors regarding the observed impact of program mentoring practices. Methods: The method for the study was quantitative non-experimental survey research. The survey instrument was an electronic questionnaire titled Respiratory Care Faculty (RCF) Mentoring Survey. The 25-item survey was divided into three dimensions: mentoring practices, mentor/mentee relationship, and perceptions of the impact of new faculty mentoring. Of the 410 possible program director participants, 126 (30%) responded to the survey. Data from the survey were used to analyze three primary research questions on four independent variables (12 total research questions). Results: Testing of the null hypotheses associated with the 12 research questions resulted in three significant findings and 9 findings that were not significant. Significant findings included female program directors reported greater opportunities for mentoring within their programs and greater levels of expectation concerning mentoring as compared to male program directors. Program directors from associate degree programs also reported a higher level of expectation concerning mentoring than program directors in bachelor’s degree programs. There was overwhelming agreement regarding the potential impact and benefit of mentoring new faculty to improve job performance, reduce turnover, improve job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Conclusion: The results of this study may benefit administrators and educators in respiratory care in efforts to support new faculty who possibly feel underprepared or overwhelmed in the new role. Because other allied health fields of study are similar in nature to respiratory care, the findings of the study could have potential implications across a range of health-related professions