January 3, 2008

Happy New Year from the AARC
The AARC wishes all of its members a happy and prosperous new year!

Asthma Course Heads to Houston in February
2008 will bring another round of the AARC's traveling Asthma Educator Preparation Course, and the first session is coming up Feb. 23-24 in Houston, TX. Click on the link to learn more about this course and how it can prepare you to sit for the Asthma Educator-Certified exam.

Submit 2008 Congress Proposals By Jan. 15
Seems early to be thinking about next year's International Respiratory Congress, but it's not. If you have an idea for a topic or speaker at next year's Congress in Anaheim, CA send it in by Jan. 15.

January 8 Webcast on Secretion Management
You can participate in the first webcast of the year next Tuesday. Rich Branson presents on Secretion Management in the Mechanically Ventilated Patient. Go to Webcast Central to register.

Create Staff Performance Evaluations With Ease
Find the right words to use in your staff performance evaluations. PhraseCounts from Lifelong Learning @ AARC is your resource that will help make each evaluation unique and appropriate to the employee. This low-cost book in PDF format on CD is filled with phrases in over 25 categories of performance – from Accuracy to Versatility. You’ll use it over and over. Now available at the AARC Store.

Log In to Enter Your Congress CRCEs
If you attended the AARC Congress in December but have yet to enter your CRCEs into your online record, now's the time to take care of that chore. Luckily, it's easy – just log in, enter your hours, and you'll be done!

Support Respiratory Legislation Today
Now that the holidays are over, it's time to turn our attention back to important respiratory legislation pending in Congress. Please take a few moments to write your legislators in support of HR 3968, the Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative to improve coverage for certain RRTs outside of the hospital setting, HR 552 and S 329, the pulmonary rehab bills, and more.

Good Press: AARC Members in the News
Take a moment to read our latest list of AARC newsmakers – this issue you'll find everything from a therapist who commented on RSV, to an RT who's written a children's book, to the members of the winning Students Sputum Bowl team.

    Comments or questions? Send them to info@aarc.org.