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Respiratory Care
Photos and Info on Student Expectations
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Student Requirements and Expectations
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
The community has been increasingly aware that job opportunities in the health care industry are on the increase nationwide. Seeking training in the health sciences are individuals that may have not previously considered themselves candidates. To best prepare individuals seeking training in the career of Respiratory Care, it is appropriate to consider a description of the demands placed on students while they attend requisite laboratories and clinical assignments located at facilities affiliated with Westchester Community College. These demands include specific action requirements.
Applicants should be reminded that some aspects of the Respiratory Care training program do not manifest themselves until later on in the program. Individuals should evaluate their abilities and ask questions of the program’s officials about specific concerns that they may have regarding physical, emotional, or cognitive requirements to complete the program. Once they read the student “job description” listed below as well as the activity expectations of a candidate, they need to approach college officials about the resources available to allow the student to complete the program.
The “student job description” identifies the demands of a Respiratory Care student enrolled in our program:
RESPIRATORY CARE PRACTITIONER: STUDENT JOB DESCRIPTION
To best prepare individuals seeking training in the career of Respiratory Care, it is appropriate to consider a description of the demands placed on students while they attend requisite laboratories and clinical assignments located at facilities affiliated with Westchester Community College. These demands include specific action requirements.
Applicants are reminded that some aspects of the Respiratory Care training program do not manifest themselves until later on in the program. Individuals should evaluate their abilities and ask questions of the program's officials about specific concerns that they may have regarding physical, emotional, or cognitive requirements to complete the program. Once they read the student "job description" listed below as well as the activity expectations of a candidate, they may need to approach college officials about the resources available to allow the student to complete the program.
Respiratory care students must demonstrate numerous competencies representing all three learning domains: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. Students learn, practice, and verify these competencies in a number of settings; including classroom, laboratory, and clinical.
To achieve the required competencies in the classroom setting, respiratory care students must perceive, assimilate, and integrate information from a variety of sources. These sources include oral instruction, printed material, visual media, and live demonstrations. Students must participate in classroom discussions, give oral reports, and pass written and computer-based examinations of various formats. Completion of these tasks requires cognitive skills such as, reading, writing, and problem-solving. To be physically capable of the classroom work, students must, with assistance, be able to hear, see, speak, sit and touch.
Respiratory care laboratories provide students with the opportunity to view demonstrations, evaluate and practice with medical devices, and perform simulated clinical procedures. In addition to the cognitive skills required in the classroom, students must demonstrate psychomotor (hands-on) skills in manipulating patients and equipment, as well as general professional behaviors like team-building and interpersonal communications. To satisfy laboratory requirements, students must perform all procedures without critical error. This requires high levels of cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor function. In addition to the physical capabilities for classroom work, the laboratories require students, with assistance, to assemble equipment, stand while using both hands to perform procedures, perform fine motor skills, and perform procedures requiring considerable strength. Examples of the latter procedures include turning and moving patients, endotracheal intubation, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Clinical education in respiratory care involves application of skills acquired in the classroom and laboratory settings to actual patients in the clinical setting. In addition to the cognitive skills required in those settings, students must demonstrate skills in patient assessment, clinical reasoning, problem-solving, synthesizing care plans, and trouble-shooting equipment. Professional behaviors required for clinical training include constructive responses to situations involving emergencies, deaths, stress, frustrating situations, and complex interactions with other members of the health care team. Students must also demonstrate respect for others, to include empathy, responsibility, efficiency, integrity, and initiative. In addition to the physical capabilities required during the classroom and laboratory sessions, clinical training includes moving briskly between patient care areas, and meeting the mental and physics demands of twelve-hour shifts.
Besides the job description listed previously, a student should read the activity requirements identified as specific to a Respiratory Care student. In addition, if you are in need of reasonable accommodations the form below is to be submitted for evaluation:
Student:
Course:
Professor:
From:
Date:
This letter is to certify that your student has filed disability documentation with the Office of Accommodations for
Students with Disabilities. Documentation has been reviewed and accepted; therefore, this student is legally entitled to equal access to the educational opportunities of your coursework.
In order to participate fully in your course the Office of Accommodations for Students with Disabilities has established that this student is entitled to the following accommodations:
EXTENDED TIME/SEPARATE LOCATION FOR TESTING
Please contact us if you have questions.
Student’s signature__________________________________________________________________________
Professor Marcia Kalkut Professor Sharon Massey
Counselor/Coordinator for Disabled Acting Learning Disabilities Specialist
CLA 4 606-6552 LIB G51 606-6287
Barbara Begnal Scovotti
Coordinator of Accommodations for Students with Disabilities LIB G51 606-6287
ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS
Gross Motor Skills
§ move within confined spaces
§ sit and maintain balance
§ stand and maintain balance
§ reach above shoulders (e.g., ECG monitors)
§ reach below waist (e.g., plug electrical appliance into wall outlets)
Fine Motor Skills
§ pick up objects with hands
§ grasp small objects with hands (e.g., blood gas sampling equipment)
§ write with pen or pencil
§ key/type (e.g., use a computer)
§ pinch/pick or otherwise work with fingers (e.g., manipulate an arterial line stopcock)
§ twist (e.g., turn objects/knobs using hands)
§ squeeze with finger (e.g., eye dropper used for medication administration)
Physical Endurance
§ stand (e.g., at client side during therapeutic procedure)
§ sustain repetitive movements (e.g., CPR, Chest Physiotherapy)
§ maintain physical tolerance (e.g., work entire shift up to 12 hours)
Physical Strength
§ push and pull 100 pounds (e.g., maneuver ventilators by themselves)
§ support 25 pound of weight (e.g., ambulate client)
§ lift 25 pound (e.g., monitoring equipment)
§ move light objects weighing up to 10 pounds (e.g., IV poles)
§ move heavy objects weighing from 11 to 50 pounds
§ defend self against combative client
§ carry equipment/supplies
§ use upper body strength (e.g., perform CPR, physically restrain a client)
§ squeeze with hands (e.g., operate fire extinguisher)
Mobility
§ twist
§ bend
§ stoop/squat
§ move quickly (e.g., respond to an emergency a distance from current location)
§ climb (e.g., ladders/stools/stairs)
§ walk
Hearing
§ hear normal speaking level sounds (e.g., person-to-person report)
§ hear faint voices
§ hear faint body sounds (e.g., blood pressure sounds, assess placement of tubes)
§ hear in situations when not able to see lips (e.g., when masks are used)
§ hear auditory alarms (e.g., monitors, fire alarms, call bells)
Visual
§ see objects up to 20 inches away (e.g., information on a computer screen, skin conditions)
§ see objects up to 20 feet away (e.g., patient in a room)
§ see objects more than 20 fee away (e.g., location of equipment in storage)
§ use depth perception
§ use peripheral vision
§ distinguish color (e.g., color codes on supplies, charts, bed)
§ distinguish color intensity (e.g., flushed skin, skin paleness)
Tactile
§ feel vibrations (e.g., tactile fremitus, patient pulse)
§ detect temperature (e.g., temperature of inspired gases)
§ feel differences in sizes, shapes (e.g., palpate vein, identify body landmarks)
§ detect environmental temperatures (e.g., check for drafts)
Smell
§ detect odors from client (e.g., fetid secretions, keto-acidosis)
§ detect smoke
§ detect gases or noxious smells
Reading
§ read and understand written documents (e.g. policies, protocols, charts, medication inserts)
Arithmetic Competence
§ read and understand columns of writing (flow sheet, charts)
§ read digital displays
§ read graphic printouts (e.g., EKG, calculate values with accuracy)
§ calibrate equipment
§ convert numbers to and/or from the metric system
§ read graphs (e.g., vital sign sheets)
§ tell time
§ measure time (e.g., count spontaneous respirations)
§ count rates (e.g., pulse)
§ use measuring tools (e.g., spirometers)
§ read measurement marks (e.g., scales, etc.)
§ add, subtract, multiply and/or divide whole numbers
§ compute fractions (e.g., medication dosages)
§ use a calculator
§ write numbers in records
Emotional Stability
§ provide patient with emotional support
§ adapt to changing environment/stress
§ deal with the unexpected (e.g., patient condition worsens)
§ focus attention on task
§ monitor own emotions
§ perform multiple responsibilities concurrently
§ handle strong emotions (e.g., grief)
Analytical Thinking
§ transfer knowledge from one situation to another
§ process information - categorize results - create therapeutic plans
§ evaluate outcomes of theory using protocols
§ problem solve
§ prioritize tasks
§ use long term memory
§ use shot term memory
Critical Thinking
§ identify cause-effect relationships
§ plan/control activities for others
§ synthesize knowledge and skills
§ sequence information
Interpersonal Skills
§ negotiate interpersonal conflict
§ respect differences in patient's beliefs (e.g., religion)
§ establish rapport with clients
§ establish rapport with co-workers
Communication Skills
§ teach (e.g., client/family about health care)
§ explain procedures
§ give oral reports (e.g., report on client's condition to others0
§ interact with others (e.g., health care workers)
§ speak on the telephone
§ influence people
§ direct activities of others
§ convey information through writing (e.g., progress notes)
§ tactfully suggest alterations in patient care treatment
Once an individual reads the job requirements and activity requirements, they need to evaluate their abilities to complete the program. If they feel they cannot meet the requirements of the activity description or job description and still want to enroll in the Respiratory Care Program, they must contact the college via Marcia Kalkut (785-6552). The individual must present documentation of a disability to their program officials, and Ms. Kalkut will make reasonable attempts to accommodate the wishes of the student to enroll in the program and be successful in its completion. The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates reasonable accommodations for individuals with documented disabilities.
Traditionally extra time and other provisions to complete tasks (evaluations) have been made available to the student in class and laboratory. It needs to be appreciated by all students enrolled in the Respiratory Care Program that while at clinical (the hospital component to our program) procedures done on patients need to be completed in limited time frames. Not only do patient care tasks need to be completed in a timely fashion but often with a specific sequence to be rendered. These psychomotor (hands-on) skills need to be mastered in laboratory prior to the students completing them on patients.
Patient safety and comfort are paramount considerations to the college and the faculty. Individual teaching strategies will be considered for individuals once they are documented to have specific needs and those needs are identified. Evaluations of all students will not vary from traditional criteria and will be equal for all students.
While the program is willing to revise teaching techniques, specific cognitive, psychomotor skills, and affective behaviors will be required for all students in order to finish the program.
Once an individual requesting accommodations to the program is identified by Marcia Kalkut and those disabilities are documented, then she will contact the student's instructor with suggestions for accommodations in the classroom and laboratory. For the clinical component of the program, the Program's Director of Clinical Education will contact clinical affiliates to insure reasonable accommodations for the student.
Unlike most other academic programs, the Respiratory Care requirements are regulated by credentialing organizations and state licensure, which require students to be proficient in the psychomotor (hand manipulation), cognitive and affective (behavior) domains. Individuals with needs that differ from traditional students can and will be accommodated within reasonable bounds.
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