Respiratory Care Program Objectives

Graduates of the program will:

• Demonstrate the ability to comprehend, apply, and evaluate clinical information relevant to their role as a respiratory care practitioner.
• Demonstrate the technical proficiency in all skills necessary to fulfill the role as a respiratory care practitioner.
• Demonstrate personal behavior consistent with professional and employer expectations for the respiratory care practitioner.

Registered respiratory care practitioners function in a wide variety of settings. As clinicians they work in adult intensive care units, pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, emergency and trauma units, operation and recovery rooms, rehabilitation programs, home health agencies, and a variety of cardiopulmonary diagnostic laboratories. Some graduates pursue advanced degrees in management, education, public health, or the biomedical sciences. Graduate degrees lead to positions in educational institutions in teaching or research capacities. Senior respiratory care practitioners may be responsible for the management and operation of respiratory care departments.

Respiratory Care Students must demonstrate numerous competencies representing all three learning domains: the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains. Students learn, practice, and verify these competencies in a number of settings including the classroom, laboratory, and clinic. 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 discussion, give oral reports, and pass written and/or computer-based examinations of various formats. Completion of these tasks require 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 skills in manipulation of patients and equipment, as well as general professional behaviors, like team-building and interpersonal communications. To satisfy laboratory and clinic requirements, students must perform all procedures without critical error.