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July
2004—Issue 2
Editor House of Delegates Officers Claude
Dockter, RRT/Speaker-elect Denise
Johnson, RRT/Secretary Tony
Rodela, RRT/Treasurer LaDawn
L. Reynolds/Past Speaker |
In This Issue... | |
HOD
Speaker’s Report |
Tom Striplin |
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Tom Striplin As I reflect on this year so far, a number of significant challenges still lie ahead of us as a profession. First and foremost, HB 2905 seeks to recognize respiratory therapists under the Medicare home health services benefit. We need to lobby our members in the U.S. Senate to sponsor a companion bill so that we can have bi-lateral movement on both sides of Congress. It is important that on behalf of our patients we fight hard to gain them access to respiratory therapists in the home. As a profession, we must mobilize an effort that will reach this goal. I have appointed a special ad hoc committee on home health care recognition to assist members in the House of Delegates and to keep this effort at the forefront of state affiliates. I think both the AARC and state affiliates can be most effective if they work cooperatively on efforts impacting the profession. A perfect example of this is the assistance and guidance that Cheryl West has lent to state affiliates facing potential polysomnography legislation. AARC should be a resource to state affiliates and state affiliates should partner with the AARC to jointly reach global efforts that will benefit the profession and our patients as a whole. I believe that we must continue to look at the bigger picture and guide this profession down a road in a direction that will increase recognition of our services and improve the scientific basis for our practice. So many times we cry that we do not get the recognition we deserve! How true, but what are we doing about it to make things change? No one likes to bring up the word “affiliate contracts”, but in my opinion, these contracts seek to partner and improve the overall relationship between the state affiliates and the AARC. What some state affiliates fail to realize is that they will not be “punished” if they choose not to sign the contract. The AARC is not the “Big Bad Brother” forcing their will on all state affiliates. Affiliates that choose not to sign will continue to be part of the association and will continue to receive revenue sharing, but will opt out (by not agreeing to partner) on any extra incentives the AARC may choose to offer those affiliates that have a signed partnership with the AARC. I have personally never viewed nor seen any hard-handed effort on behalf of the AARC Board to limit or control the operations of state affiliates. The contract in my view sets a foundation of trust and good business operations and needs to be re-signed on a yearly basis. State affiliates can opt out after a year if they feel the contract has been too restrictive on them. Those affiliates that have signed or plan to sign will benefit by this partnership agreement by increased incentives via the AARC. Those affiliates that choose not to sign have no position to complain when increased incentives are given to the states that have agreed to partner, since signing is an option, not a mandate. I have received a number of suggestions from delegates about streamlining our meeting process in the House of Delegates. Considering that the HOD has done things the same way for sometime now, I am very open to discussing how we can conduct meetings that will be more beneficial to the state affiliates and the AARC as a whole. I have planned HOD restructuring as part of the focus group discussion in Vail. I believe it is good to put things on the table that can improve the way we conduct ourselves in a business meeting. We need to keep an open mind to change, and I hope that all the delegates take a pro-active role in the focus group discussions. As a profession, I believe we are headed in the right direction and that we should continue to work hard and move forward on the issues that impact us within our states and across the nation. The effort on behalf of the AARC to make our profession one that is internationally recognized will open doors that we have never dreamed of for respiratory therapy. Let’s keeping thinking about advancing our profession and doing what is right for our patients! If we focus on those two things, we will be winners time and time again. [Top] |
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Claude Dockter, RRT The issue never changes. Respiratory Therapists will always find themselves in the midst of a turf battle. We have all been there, “Those are my ventilators and you are not allowed to touch them!”; “This is my patient and I know what’s best!” etc, etc. Today we find our profession under assault from a group of individuals who believe OJT’s (On The Job Trainee) are capable of performing various Respiratory Care modalities. I cannot throw any stones. I entered the Respiratory Care profession as an OJT. I was 19 years old. I was taught to draw blood gases, adjust ventilators, do IPPB, percussion, neb treatments, and EKG’s. I had little comprehension (if any) of the implications of what I was doing. I took my direction from a Certified Therapist who was excellent, and taught me about professionalism and responsibility, but I had no clue as to the physiological effects the procedure I did had on the human body. Thank goodness North Dakota passed their practice act and I was forced to make a decision regarding my future in the Respiratory Care profession. The passing of the practice act protected North Dakota citizens from people like me, who were brash enough to think they could function in the capacity of a Respiratory Therapist without obtaining the required knowledge. The message in Vail was loud and clear. Stand up and take action to protect the citizens of your state. We should be going back to our Affiliates and begin the grass roots efforts to reacquaint ourselves with those whom we consider supporters of respiratory care. If we wait until the eleventh hour we will be forced to compromise and have our practice act weakened, which will put our patients at risk. Through our efforts at the affiliate level we will all benefit. We have all worked very hard to secure regulation of Respiratory Care to protect the public, now it is time to tend to what we have sown. [Top] |
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Denise Johnson, RRT Greetings to all of you! I hope you had a safe trip home and maybe enjoyed extended time in Colorado if this was possible. I enjoyed seeing all of you and meeting many of you for the first time. As always the House meeting was invigorating, interesting and productive. The discussion during the focus groups I found to be the most meaningful. (Group #1 still ROCKS) Al Moss has taken all of the information from the four groups and has summarized it in to one document. He is asking for the House Officers to review and we will be forwarding this summary to the House. Many of the great ideas that blossomed from the groups will be considered for implementation. Call for resolutions for our December meeting has already been announced! This brings to mind some of the conversation we had in my focus group, in orientation and during the House meeting. The resolution process is what we are all about. We can make a difference with the direction of our profession and the AARC. It was mentioned during the discussion in my focus group that there is a desire to submit resolutions, but maybe hesitancy in doing so because delegates are unsure of what constitutes an appropriate, clear and meaningful resolution. I want to reinforce that the Resolutions Committee is a great resource to assist you in this process. We are here to answer questions and even help you develop it with you if need be. Please don’t overlook the many other delegates who have had experience in writing resolutions and we can refer you to them as well. One key component of a solid resolution is the preparation. Doing your homework upfront, talking with other delegations for input and including all necessary information will ensure a great discussion when it reaches the floor. Go forth and develop those resolutions. The Resolutions Committee is ready and waiting to hear from you. As a reminder submissions are due by September 23rd, 2004. I look forward to seeing you at the 50th Year of the AARC Celebration in New Orleans in December. Thanks once again for the opportunity to serve as your Secretary. [Top] |
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LaDawn L. Reynolds, BA, RRT Well, it’s been about a month since Pat Munzer first requested articles for the Record. Throughout my time as Secretary, Speaker-elect and Speaker I was never at a loss of words when it came to these articles. So why are things different this time? The list serve has been quiet—maybe there isn’t really anything to address? Right! I’m now down to about 10 days before the deadline and I’m looking at everything in my personal and professional life to see if and how I could make it into an appropriate article. Personally, there is nothing newsworthy here. You’ve been through my marriage last year and will get to meet my husband, Chris, in Vail. My daughter, Aubrey, will soon be 8 and some of you may remember when she was 3 months old at our meeting in San Diego. My, how time flies when you’re having fun. Professionally things are about the same. You have heard my plans and goals as Past Speaker and have already received a couple of my updates from the Board meetings. Unless there are changes requested as a result of this summer’s Focus Group Sessions, I’ll continue reporting to you as I have been doing. As Speaker I discussed membership recruitment and our involvement. As current AARC Membership Chair my thoughts are the same. We all need to be involved with recruitment and retention of AARC members. I could go on and on with this one, but Kevin gives us wonderful updates at the meetings, plus this isn’t anything new to you and I would be preaching to the choir. Now the choir needs to go out and motivate the grass root therapists at the state level to do the same. The Executive Office continues to update its resources for these efforts so we need to take advantage of them. Unfortunately I’m not a big philosophical person, so I can’t give you interesting and thought provoking ideas like Ken Thigpen. Now, I do have some issues where the “Good Fred and Bad Fred” could come out, but you wouldn’t want me to go there. I guess we’ll just have to leave it at this and give you a little about nothing (except for membership). Just remember that my next article will be my last, after about 13 years as a House Delegate/Officer, and I’m already jotting down notes for that one! [Top] |
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LaDawn L. Reynolds, BA, RRT I’m on my way back to KY and have had a little time to reflect on the meeting in Vail and have decided that—It’s time to move on! There is so much that this profession has to deal with, polysomnography issues, now perfusion, legislative issues out the wazoo, and not to mention MEMBERSHIP. Now is not the time to dwell on things that cannot be changed. The contract issue is almost a year old now. It is obvious that it was not handled in the most efficient manner, but there is nothing now that can be done. Nothing is certain, but hopefully it was a learning curve for those involved and will not happen again. It’s time to move on! By now you should have had all of your questions answered about the availability of the AARC BOD minutes, as well. This, too, has been dwelt on way too long as this has been an issue for almost a year. You have your answers and know what needs to be done if you really want them that bad. Some say it’s the principle of the whole issue. I say—it’s time to move on! Communication and trust with the Board of Directors has been the best it has ever been for many years. That was confirmed by some of the Delegates/Past Delegates during open mike. Those of us who have been around many years and seen this transition are not going to let that change for the worse. There is no need to have a “watch dog” in the BOD meetings; you are getting more info now than you have ever had. You have to believe in your Officers’ abilities. It’s time to move on! Yes, resolution tracking needs attention, and Tom is working very hard to get what has already been put in place by the Executive Office into something that can be useful to the delegations. I can’t wait to see the results of the Focus Group Sessions as I’ve heard many good ideas have been shared. These are the kinds of issues that we need to be focused on allowing for improvement on our activities. It’s time to move on! It’s time to move on and address the many, many issues important to the profession, its growth and success. It’s time to get over the past and work on the future. [Top] |
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Carol Agard, RRT The House of Delegates Meeting was held in Vail, Colorado on June 21—22, 2004 following the AARC Summer Forum. I was fortunate to be able to attend and I would like to take this opportunity to share some of my experiences from the trip and the HOD Meeting. I am always looking for adventure, but I didn’t expect to find it running from gate to gate and hopping from plane to plane while traveling from Hawaii to Vail Colorado, it felt like I was on safari halfway around the world. I left Hawaii on Thursday evening and arrived in beautiful Vail, Colorado on Friday afternoon just in time to catch a couple of lectures at the Summer Forum. Then I was off with new found friends to enjoy the comfortable and convenient accommodations, with bicycles for rent and easy access to Vail village as well as other scenic spots in the surrounding areas. During the Summer Forum lunch break on Saturday, I was invited to attend a small focus group meeting surveying those present on their preferences, purchasing practices and constraints. The meeting was coordinated by Bill Dubbs, AARC Director of Education/Management, and facilitated by Kevin Shrake, AARC Chief Operating Officer. For me it was exciting and personal to experience our COO facilitating a meeting sponsored by one of our corporate partners to learn directly the perspectives and practices of a small sampling of respiratory care practitioners from all across the country. Visiting Colorado for the first time and preparing to attend my third House of Delegates meeting put me on a natural high and set the tone for my entire visit. What a great place for a meeting and professional networking with some of the best and brightest in the country all in one place. Debbie Fox, Delegate from Kansas, and company coordinated a welcome reception that set the stage for networking between new and experienced members of the HOD and BOD. The meeting was a success with well over 100 in attendance and excess funds that will be directed to support the International Fellowship Program. Great job Debbie, thanks for all your hard work and all those who supported you in this event.It was helpful to listen to reports from the AARC BOD and HOD leadership and other organizations to gain an understanding of the accomplishments made and the focus of the future as well as any new areas of concern that we need to pay attention to. I appreciated the opportunity to interact on a formal as well as informal basis with the presenters. It was interesting to learn that there were no resolutions submitted for discussion at this meeting. There continued to be some conflict between some members of the HOD and BOD related to issues carried over from previous meetings. I am hopeful that the HOD and BOD will together begin to put as much energy into moving forward as a profession, as we do in holding on to the past. Together, in a short nearly fifty years, we have come a long way as a profession, so we need to celebrate our successes, let go of the past and keep moving. For me the highlight of our two days together was the focus group meeting on day two, where we had an opportunity to look at our strengths, opportunities for improvement and our own personal accountabilities to make a difference. Being able to attend the HOD meeting was truly an awesome experience that I will share with my colleagues in Hawaii and value into the future. I left the meeting with an uplifted spirit and an attitude of personal accountability, “if it is to be, its up to me!” [Top] |
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Steve Kessinger, CRT The thought of it raises sweat beads on the back of my head. My conscious psyche brews up ideas of illness and thoughts return about ditching school. I was always the one who waited until the last minute to study for an exam, so when I heard the phrase I’ll be using the ‘Bell Curve,’” these physical and mental maladies came upon me like locust in a Dylan Thomas novella. I was either going to fail miserably or be hated by all but a few. It is Abraham De Moivre who is credited with the first mention of the “normal curve of error” in 1733. He used it almost explicitly for “games of chance.” Its continued function became mostly mathematics. De Moivre was not satisfied with this function alone however, so he attempted to use it to prove the existence of God, much to the chagrin of theologians. Also called “The Law of Frequency of Error,” it was used by mathematicians and astronomers such as LaPlace and Gauss in the early 1800’s to correct the errors in their plotting of the orbits of our solar system, and other mathematical calculations. Not long after, social scientists began using the curve as a way of measuring mass behavior. In his “Theory of the Average Man” Adolph Quetelet assumed that nature aimed at a fixed point in forming human beings but made a certain frequency of errors. He used it to explain physical attributes such as height, weight, vision, etc. Deviations on either side of “average,” were considered “undesirable.” He did, however, exempt mental abilities as those with superior abilities were the forerunners of what would soon be the average. There have been many sociologists who have attempted to used the Bell Curve to correct inequalities in the social and political structures built in the last 200 years. In any event, it is certain that the curve has sparked much discussion and fear in our society. Within any group, there are those who excel, and those who do not. In the middle is the majority, (called average) and those people are the backbone to that system. If Quetelet is correct, these average people were once above average and failed to advance. In our profession, we have a similar situation. A few are simply not equipped to slide down the continuum from below average, to average, to above average, as Quetelet suggests. Those in the middle will do so at varying speed and efficiency or perhaps not at all. Those to the right of the curve are there to push, pull, drag, or perhaps only cheer, and motivate those who will move along the continuum. Where do we each stand, currently, on this continuum, and how will we move to the right? Are we to be left behind and struggle with maintaining an average stance as an RCP, or will we rally our own abilities as well as collect others to travel with us? If the first 50 years of our profession are any indication of professional advancement, we will surely make what is now above average, and the standard of care, obsolete. The new standard of care will be what we have yet to dream. I see great (greater) things on the horizon. I’m betting (using De Moivre’s original premise), that we will be standing on the right side of the hill looking back up at our history of advancement and looking forward to a world filled with ideas and technology only Gene Roddenberry imagined. [Top] |
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The History of Canadian Society Janet M. Boehm, MS, RRT Canada, “our friends to the north” just recently celebrated their 40th anniversary at the Canadian Society for Respiratory Therapists Educational Forum in Toronto, Ontario May 28—30th. At the President’s Reception on Friday May 29, 2004, Ian Reed one of the “founding fathers” of the CSRT was honored. I was impressed with the rich heritage that engulfed the ceremony. But the thoughts that remained afterwards were something that I will always value. I would like to share with you some excerpts of the speech that was given by Shane Donaldson honoring Ian Reed at the President’s Reception. “The Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists (CSRT), nee the Canadian Society of Respiratory Technologists, nee the Canadian Society of Inhalation Therapy Technicians, received its Federal Supplementary Letters Patent in 1964. But its existence can be traced back to 1958-59. In 1958 a small group of technicians in Montreal obtained a Chapter Charter from the American Association of Inhalation Therapists (AAIT), to be followed by a similar group in Toronto in 1959. Ian's involvement in the field began in 1960 at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, where Ian, Bob Merry, Mike Andrews and a few others were known as Oxygen Orderlies. The Canadian Anesthetists' Society, through the support and encouragement of Dr. Alan Noble in Montreal and Dr. Alan Conn in Toronto, encouraged the fledgling group of technicians to work toward the formation of a Canadian organization and in 1960 the two groups gave up their AAIT Chapter Charters and formed a National Committee to work toward this goal. Ian became a member of the four-man National Committee in 1962. The activities of this group, working with numerous like-minded practitioners across the country, led to the formation and federal incorporation of the Canadian Society of Inhalation Therapy Technicians. The Secretary of State issued the Federal Letters Patent of Incorporation on December 21, 1964 and a new healthcare profession was born in Canada. Within the CSRT Ian has held numerous roles and board positions such as Treasurer, Parliamentarian, and ultimately President (1974-76). As Parliamentarian he was involved in the development and refinement of many of the by-laws which have governed our Society and controlled the conduct of our affairs; as Treasurer, succeeding Mike Andrews, he looked after our very limited finances - and sometimes increased our dues! Ian has made many of us improve ourselves beyond points we thought we could achieve. If you know Ian, you know of his insistence that meetings run in an orderly fashion under the auspices of Robert's Rules of Order. When I became the Respiratory Therapy Society of Ontario (RTSO) President in 1979 I was on the receiving end of this. Although frustrated due to procedural questions and concerns, it forced us (the RTSO Board of Directors) to learn Robert's Rules of Order from cover to cover. Knowing these parliamentary rules has assisted me in many other areas over the years especially running a meeting.” You can close your eyes and see that throughout the years, both societies, the CSRT and the AARC, have struggled with many of the same issues. Such important issues seem to prevail throughout the history of our profession. Pertinent issues dealing with the recognition of the profession, reimbursement for services, quality patient care, safety and establishing the science of Respiratory Therapy. There were other “minor” issues that seemed similar to both associations, such as raising dues for members of the association and yes, even using Robert's Rules of Order to run an orderly meeting. (Yes, even our colleagues to the north had to learn Robert's Rules of Order from cover to cover, as have many of us that have served on the BOD or the HOD.) However, in spite of all these issues, there was one “thing” that seemed overwhelmingly obvious to me. I noticed a common “character” in each one of the respiratory therapists that attended that reception. It did not matter if you were from Canada or the United States, there was “something” that was similar in each one of them and us. Some common “thread” that I noticed. I heard over and over all the amazing things that the RT’s in Canada had accomplished in just 40 years. Accomplishments that would terrorize the average person, for they would not even know where to begin with such an overwhelming task as “founding” a professional association. Then it dawned on me! That was itÖwe were all Respiratory Therapists, a really unique group of individuals. I realized how truly awesome Respiratory Therapists really are. Given any situation, RT’s will group together and utilize their knowledge and talents to overcome. I know we still have much to accomplish as professionals. There are many issues... such as HB 2905, membership, patient safety issues, etc., to address. But, I am confident that that “character” and the talents of each of you, my colleagues, will be the force that will move us forward. [Top] |
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(as of July 12, 2004)
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