2006 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
EXPLORING RESPIRATORY CARE EDUCATION PROGRAMS THROUGH PROGRAM CURRICULUM, RESOURCES AND OUTCOMES
Arzu Ari, PhD, MS, CRT,
CPFT
Georgia
State
University
,
Atlanta
,
GA
Background: Respiratory
care education (RCE) programs have not been sufficiently studied; therefore,
there is not enough research available regarding program characteristics
including program curriculum, resources and outcomes. Respiratory care is a
relatively new health care profession and more information is needed regarding
the characteristics of RCE programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was
to determine the characteristics of Baccalaureate Science (BS) degree RCE
programs in terms of program curriculum, resources and outcomes.
Method: The
unit analysis of this study was BS degree RCE programs in the
United States
. After utilizing a mailed survey research method, the
number of surveys returned was 36 with a 70.5% response rate. Descriptive
statistics and frequency distributions were conducted in order to identify the characteristics of BS degree RCE programs
in the
United
States
.
Results: RCE
programs vary greatly in terms of program curriculum, resources and outcomes.
For instance, the range of curriculum components such as RCE credit hours,
clinical contact hours and laboratory hours was quite large among BS degree
programs. The curriculum components of RCE programs are summarized as the
number of responses (n), minimum (Min), maximum (Max), mean, and standard
deviations (SD).
Curriculum n Min Max Mean SD
RCE Credit Hours 36 42 148 88.63 35.56
Clinical Contact Hours 36 200 1440 877.7 238.15
RCE Laboratory Hours 34 56 360 179.82 84.4
Program resources component
was divided into three categories: (a) personnel resources, (b) financial
resources, and (c) clinical resources. As for personnel resources of RCE
programs, 28% of RCE programs did not utilize any part-time faculty members,
while approximately 20% of the programs did not have any supporting full-time
staff member. The faculty to student ratio of RCE programs was 1 to 4 and only
19% of faculty members held a PhD or EdD degree.
Salaries of faculty and staff members made up 66% of total program
expenditures, while the remaining of total financial resources (34%) consisted
of total operating budget. Both total operating budget and total personnel
budget had wide variation across RCE programs. Similar to other program
resources components, clinical resources also varied widely from 1 to 31
clinical sites and BS degree RCE programs had affiliation with seven clinical
sites, on average. Regarding program outcomes, the mean WRRTE scores of BS
degree RCE programs ranged from 52 to 100. Overall, the mean WRRTE score was
77.52 (SD=12.70, n=36). The attrition rate ranged from 0 to 30% while the mean
attrition rate was 10.99 (SD=9.26, n=35). The mean employment rate was 99.17% (SD=2.88,
n=35) and ranged from 83.95% to 100%.
Conclusion: There
are important variations not only in program curriculum and resources but also
in program outcomes among RCE programs. Program directors, accrediting agencies
and professional organizations must be aware of wide variations in the
characteristics of BS degree RCE programs that may be affecting program
performance on the WRRTE. Therefore, establishing standards on program
curriculum, resources and outcomes for BS degree RCE programs are needed in
achieving consistency in respiratory therapy education in the
United States
.