Resp Care
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Comparative Study
Educational technology integration and distance learning in respiratory care: practices and attitudes.
Educational technologies have had an important role in respiratory care. Distance learning via postal correspondence has been used extensively in respiratory care, and Internet-based distance learning is now used in the training of respiratory therapists (RTs), clinical continuing education, and in baccalaureate degree and higher programs for RTs and educators. ⋯ Educational technologies have an important role in respiratory care. Online distance learning for baccalaureate and higher degrees in respiratory care is promising. Online distance learning in respiratory care must include face-to-face instruction. Distance-learning deployment in respiratory care will require resources. A follow-up probabilistic survey of United States respiratory care managers is needed. Online surveys conducted for respiratory care are promising, but neither less expensive nor easier than conventional means.
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Comparative Study
A comparison of problem-based learning and traditional curricula in baccalaureate respiratory therapy education.
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a constructivist model of education that uses ill-structured, authentic problems to stimulate and organize all learning. The major goal of PBL is to help learners construct knowledge in contexts similar to the real-world environments in which the knowledge will be used. Although PBL is a widely accepted educational method, controversy persists about its effectiveness, how appropriately to measure its outcomes, and, more generally, whether grand education experiments can explain a curriculum intervention's effects. The present study was undertaken to compare PBL and traditional curricula in baccalaureate-level respiratory-therapy education, in terms of (1) graduate and employer ratings of cognitive, psychomotor, and affective competencies on standardized follow-up surveys mandated by the Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care, and (2) scores on the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) examinations. ⋯ Respiratory-therapy graduates from the 2 PBL programs were more satisfied with their program's overall quality than were the graduates of the 2 traditional-curricula programs. Moreover, the PBL teaching and learning method did not place graduates at a disadvantage on standardized, objective tests of knowledge (the licensing and credentialing examinations). These findings are consistent with similar published studies on PBL approaches in medical and health care professional education.
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Airway clearance techniques, historically referred to as chest physical therapy, have traditionally consisted of a variety of breathing maneuvers or exercises and manual percussion and postural drainage. The methods and types of airway clearance techniques and devices have rapidly increased in an effort to find a more efficacious strategy that allows for self-therapy, better patient adherence and compliance, and more efficient durations of care. Mechanically applied pressure devices have migrated from European countries over the last several decades to clinical practice in the United States. ⋯ From a methods standpoint, most of the studies of PEP and OPEP for airway clearance are limited by crossover designs and small sample sizes. While PEP and OPEP do not definitively prove superiority to other methods of airway clearance strategies, there is no clear evidence that they are inferior. Ultimately, the correct choice may be an airway clearance strategy that is clinically and cost effective, and is preferred by the patient so that adherence and compliance can be at the very least supported.