Tennessee Society for Respiratory Care

2017 TSRC State Convention Registration is Open

By: Michael Fischer

Early registration ends April 10th. Register now, save $30!

All issues are resolved and both attendees and exhibitors should be able to easily register and pay online.

Exhibitors/Sponsors: Info and Registration

Tennessee Society for Respiratory Care Packs Probasco for Fall Seminar

By: Diane Knight, BS, RRT

The Tennessee Society for Respiratory Care (TSRC) held their Fall Seminar in the Probasco Auditorium at ERLANGER HEALTH SYSTEM on Friday, October 21st. It was a standing room only crowd with the largest participant turn-out in the TSRC’s history. Multiple vendors attended as sponsors of the TSRC and the area respiratory therapists that attended from several states across the southeastern United States.

Erlanger Respiratory Therapists are required to participate in both in-person and on-line Continuing Education Courses throughout the year as a condition of maintaining their NBRC credential and their state licensure. The Seminar topics included: “The Evolution of Aerosol Therapy,” “The Future of Pulmonary Disease Management: Through the eyes of the RT Navigator,” “Ethics,” “Airway Clearance Therapy,” “Respiratory’s Role in Improving Outcomes in the Post-Op Setting,” “Bronchiolitis Caused by RSV; A Clinical Review.”

Erlanger’s own RT Navigators, Derek Lester RRT and Takesha Pratt, BS, MBA, RRT, held the audience’s attention with their presentation on the inception, development and implementation of the RT Navigator program throughout the ERLANGER HEALTH SYSTEM. Besides spearheading the Smoking Cessation Program, RT Navigators are instrumental in guiding our pulmonary patients through the ERLANGER HEALTH SYSTEM and beyond as they transition to home care. Lester and Pratt also discussed the challenges that face the ERLANGER HEALTH SYSTEM COPD Program along with the COPD Program’s future goals and objectives as it meshes with the Hospital’s Mission.

Comment: I have attended TSRC Chattanooga Chapter Seminars in the past, however, the 2016 Fall Seminar (Friday, Oct. 21st) was the first one I had the opportunity of working. Over 160 people pre-registered for the seminar and we had over a dozen walkups! According to Chattanooga Chapter President, Terry Ellis, Jr. this was the largest seminar in Chattanooga Chapter history! The day was non-stop with great speakers presenting current and useful material. I had the opportunity to visit with vendors and see some new exciting products. I saw old classmates, co-workers, and even made a few new friends. If you missed out on this event, the 2017 Spring Seminar is just around the corner!

Randy Ramirez, RRT
Respiratory Care Department Educator
Neonatal Transport
ERLANGER HEALTH SYSTEM

2015 Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success Award

By: Michele Hadley, BS, RRT

At the 2016 AARC Summer Forum two Tennessee respiratory care programs received CoARC’s Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success Award for 2015. Seventy-eight of the 432 programs received the award. Criteria for the award included:
(1) have three or more years of outcomes data; (2) hold accreditation without a progress report; (3) document RRT credentialing success of 90% or above, and (4) meet or exceed established CoARC thresholds for CRT credentialing success, attrition and positive (job) placement.

Chattanooga State Community College won the award for the fifth consecutive year. Sharron Hall is the program director. Columbia State Community College won the award for the first time. R. David Johnson is the program director.

According to the 2015 CoARC Outcomes Data Report the national average for graduates obtaining the RRT credential was 70.5% Chattanooga State averaged 97.9% for the assessment period. Columbia State averaged 93.8%. The national job placement average was 85.5% while Chattanooga State averaged 93.8% and Columbia State averaged 97.9%.

According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/respiratory-therapists.htm, the job outlook for Respiratory Therapists is expected to grow by 12% for the time period of 2014 – 2024 which is considered faster than the average for all occupations.

Passing of Billy Lamb

By: Susan Parsons

Good Morning,

The members of the Missouri Society are devastated at the loss of our dear friend, mentor and advocate. I was talking with a new district officer yesterday who did not have the chance to know Billy. She mentioned how sad she was that she did not get the opportunity to learn from him. It occurred to me that, while she never had the chance to learn directly from Bill, her mentors had all been taught and mentored by Billy. With his help, we learned this importance of this skill and for that we are eternally grateful. His legacy lives on in each of us.

We realize that many of you are unable to travel to St. Louis for Billy memorial service. I wanted to share with you that we will be live streaming BILL LAMB’s MEMORIAL SERVICE which begins on Sat 6/11 at noon.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf7PUQU9eac
Please distribute this to anyone you feel would like to participate.

We are thankful to Monica Schibig, Program Director at the University of Missouri and long time friend of Billy for putting this together.

Dana
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Dana Evans
Respiratory Care Manager
Mercy Children’s Hospital-St. Louis
Chesterfield MO
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2016 TSRC State Conference – Update

By: Susan Parsons

Many thanks to the attendees and vendors who supported the TSRC 2016 State Conference with their participation. You made the Conference a success! We hope to see you at the TSRC 2017 State Conference.

A special thanks to our vendors for your support! The following companies participated in the TSRC 2016 State Conference & Exhibition.

THANK YOU!

New Continuing Education Rules Become Effective on November 26, 2015

By: John Williams

(SEE ADDENDUM AT END OF ARTICLE)

The Tennessee Board of Respiratory Care has revised the rules governing continuing education (CE). The new rules take effect on November 26, 2015.

The CE hours obtained by respiratory therapists must meet the following requirements:

Each respiratory therapist who holds a Tennessee license must get 12 hours of CE every calendar year. The previous requirement was 10 hours.
At least 5 of the 12 hours must pertain to the clinical practice of respiratory care or to research related to the cardio-pulmonary system.
At least 1 of the 12 hours must pertain to “patient safety” (as that term is defined by the Joint Commission).
At least 1 of the 12 hours must be a course focused on the professional or ethical standards required of respiratory therapists.
The remaining 5 hours may pertain to other topics, such as education or management.

The list of organizations whose CE activities and programs are considered pre-approved has been revised and expanded. This is the new list:
Read more…

The COPD Patient-Powered Research Network

By: Zach Gantt, RRT - TSRC President

From: Cara Pasquale
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Dear COPD Foundation Staff,

The long awaited COPD PPRN Whiteboard video is here! This is a great tool to use if someone asks you what the COPD PPRN is and what does it do.

I encourage all of you to watch the video – it was a labor intensive team effort and I think the final product will serve us well for promoting the COPD PPRN!

Thanks!
Cara