AARC Election 2026 — Rena Laliberte

AARC Activities:

• 2024/2025 Member SESG Committee
• 2025 Clinical Educator Task Force
• Blood Gas Laboratory Micro Credential team
• CPG for Aerosol Therapy team
• APEX award reviewer
• Grant reviewer
• SPOTY award reviewer (acute care)

Affiliate Activities:

• Michigan Society for Respiratory Care Asthma Section Chair
• Michigan Society for Respiratory Care Acute Care Section Chair
• Michigan Society for Respiratory Care District 10 Rep
• Michigan Society for Respiratory Care District 10 Alternate
• Michigan Society for Respiratory Care Spring and Fall conference committees
• NBRC Item Writer

Related Organizations:

• American Heart Association volunteer
• St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Mission Team

Education and Credentials:

• Macomb Community College Associate in Science- Respiratory Care
• University of Kansas Bachelor Degree Respiratory Care

Publications:

• “Feasibility and Initial Safety Evaluation of Inhaled 13C-Urea in Ambulatory Patients with Pneumonia”
  Justin T. Baca, Nicholas F. Parchim, Jillian Kotulski, Jon Femling, Robert M. Taylor, Silas Bussmann, Lionel Candelaria, Tatsuya Norii, Michele Moyer, Rena Laliberte, Shivan Patel, Samantha Odeesho, and Richard Nowak
  Journal of Aerosol Medicine and Pulmonary Drug Delivery 2022 35:1, 57-59

Elections Committee Questions:

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the AARC, and what do you recommend to address it?

I feel the biggest challenge for the AARC, and the field of Respiratory Care in general, is attracting new and younger members in today’s climate. There seems to be a focus shift on dedication to professional life to dedication to personal life. There is nothing wrong with work life balance, but I believe you can achieve both. I believe with more transparency and student/new therapist involvement at state and national levels of Respiratory Care, we can excite our newest colleagues in our processes and passions. With the recent changes in the AARC, I am beginning to see many new younger faces and that is very exciting, and I would love to play a role in this excitement to bring others to the AARC membership.

Healthcare is changing more rapidly than ever. What ideas do you have to help today’s respiratory therapist meet these challenges?

Hopefully I am currently playing a role in meeting these challenges. I mentor new therapists in my current role and teach them more advanced therapies and patient evaluations so they can obtain the knowledge they need to have professional discussions with providers with more confidence. The more knowledge and confidence they display, the more valuable they feel as part of the team. I do the same thing with students that rotate in our facility. I take them with me when I round as supervisor, teach another service, or while I am participating in our current research projects to exemplify the multitude of options available to Respiratory Therapists, and the difference we make in many areas.

The value of this section is important. If given the opportunity to represent, what would you do to increase the value of this section, and how would you increase interest in section membership?

Even thought I feel I am late to this position, I will be honest in sharing that my confidence in it has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 10 years. I have learned so much in my current position and while networking with so many of my AARC colleagues at both Summer Forum and Congress. These experiences have given me the confidence to be very active in the Acute Care Section with posting and responding to multiple posts. My activity in the section has led to requests to lecture, making multiple connections in AARCconnect, and I have been contacted to be involved in additional AARC activities and groups. My hope is that by being present and sharing, even more than I do now, I will be able to bring additional interest in an already very interesting and active Section.