AARC Congress 2019

Early in his career, Dr. Petty investigated the pathology of emphysema and airway disease in cigarette smokers. Later in his career, he was a proponent of the definition of COPD that incorporates airflow obstruction on spirometry and deemphasized emphysema and chronic bronchitis. This session will present the most recent information on the myriad effects of cigarette smoking including those not associated with airflow obstruction. The latest understanding of the effects of cigarette smoking are leading to deconstruction of the current definition of COPD.

Respiratory care is often a high stress, demanding career that frequently results in burnout. This lecture will discuss the prevalence, causes, and how burnout effects patient outcomes. Data from across the care continuum will be shared and discussed.

The withdrawal of life support is an integral part of the work for respiratory therapists working in the ICU. Despite how common the practice is, very few respiratory therapists receive adequate training regarding this practice. This presentation will cover mechanics of terminal extubation, how to communicate with families, and tips on self-care to prevent compassion fatigue.

Disruptive behavior is a problem in health care and is a major contributor to burnout. This lecture will discuss what defines disruptive behavior, causes of disruptive behavior, and their effect on worker morale. Strategies to combat disruptive behavior will be discussed.

The pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension is not always completely identified, but the two main mechanisms are: increased pulmonary vascular resistance and increased pulmonary venous pressure. The signs and symptoms of pulmonary hypertension, in its early stages, might not be noticeable for months or even years. As the disease progresses, symptoms become worse.

PAH is a rare disease and not all causes are known. While PAH can affect people at any age, the average patient is diagnosed in their late 40s. And although anyone can develop PAH, it affects almost 4 times as many women as men.

The Scientific Leadership Council of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) has been actively developing an accreditation initiative for PH treating programs across the nation in order to improve the overall quality of care and outcomes of patients with PAH. In this effort, the PH Care Center Program was developed by the PHA to identify the PH programs with the infrastructure and experience to best manage the disease.

This session will focus on the recently released guidelines for pulmonary rehabilitation with emphasis on how to integrate the recommendations into your rehabilitation practice.

This session will look at the introduction of telehealth technologies into the management and evaluation of patients who are undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation. Strategies to integrate this technology into the practice of pulmonary rehabilitation will be discussed.

The prolonged wars in Southwest Asia have provided extensive experience in prehospital management of severe injuries and transport of patients to definitive care. This paper will review injuries seen in the prehospital setting, specifically working through airway access despite wound patterns, types of injuries and respiratory distress, and their treatment during far forward operations or transport to treatment facilities.

The modern pain specialist does regional blocks of both outpatients and inpatients. Several of these blocks affect lung dynamics temporarily. Many of these patients can only tolerate these blocks with short term NIV managed by a RT. Therapists need to become members of the pain treatment team. They bring a special skill set to aid patients with chronic lung diseases receiving regional pain blocks.

This presentation will be covering research that has contributed to GOLD guideline updates and changes in practice for our COPD patients, bringing RTs from acute care to post-acute care together to learn about best practices and management strategies for this patient population.

Proper assessment and the ability to recommend appropriate treatment are important skills for all respiratory therapists. Learn about issues that lead to the misdiagnosis of COPD, including diagnostic problems and conditions that may mimic this disease. Additional topics include: the inclusion of COPD in 30-day readmission penalties, coding in COPD, and potential adverse events from improper diagnosis and treatment. Find out how misdiagnosis impacts both clinical and financial outcomes.

COPD is the third leading cause of death by disease in the U.S. and continues to be a burden on the health care system. Patients with COPD often have other comorbid conditions that lead to early readmissions and increased length of stay. This leads to a tremendous cost burden. Practitioners need to be able to recognize the effect that these comorbid conditions can have. The presenter will outline the most prevalent comorbidities in patients with COPD and discuss the suggested outcome effects of these.

Previous research has shown that there is a gap in health care providers’ practice when prescribing inhalation delivery devices for the management of COPD. This presentation will review the current aerosol delivery devices used for the treatment of patients with COPD and provide strategies and recommendations to optimize aerosol drug delivery in this patient population.

What does it take to achieve successful weaning in the long-term care setting? This lecture will provide information on protocols for weaning success and methods to achieve desired outcomes.

Readmission reduction is THE hot topic in the post-acute world. Two patient populations with the highest risk of readmission are CHF and COPD, but respiratory therapists have yet to take the lead to address the issue. In Northern California, a respiratory company partnered with a 160-bed SNF to tackle the problem head on. The results prove that respiratory care practitioners are the key to stemming the tide of readmissions in this medically complex patient population.

This topic will explain the evolution of therapies and the most current pharmacological, therapy, and self-management skills to comprehensively manage comorbid NCF-BE in the COPD community.

This topic will explain how to implement screening, measure data, and track outcomes that will assist in managing NCF-BE patients, and how to use those outcomes to create protocols for COPD patients using technology to drive the plan of care.

Providing oxygen therapy within the hospital involves use of equipment and delivery adjuncts that are quite different from providing oxygen therapy in the home. Home oxygen therapy poses challenges and limitations not encountered by hospital RTs. A better understanding of the capabilities and limitations of home oxygen therapy equipment and its adjuncts can help bridge the gap and transition from hospital to home for patients requiring continued and long-term oxygen therapy.