2006 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
IMPLEMENTING A RESPIRATORY STUDENT EXTERNSHIP
Koreen Menzies RRT,
Richard Ford RRT, Lisa Wood RRT. Garner Faulkner RRT, Elsie Collado-Komen
MS RRT, Timothy Morris MD.
UCSD
Medical
Center
San Diego
,
California
Objective: The
AARC Human Resource Survey indicates a 2005 vacancy rate of 8.65%, up from
5.96% in 2000. On a national and regional level respiratory care departments
are competing for a limited number of RCP graduates A solution to the growing
demand for trained RCP's and managing the increasing costs of training,
orientation and competency assessment is to incorporate programs that commit
students to the department early in the course of their studies. We elected to design an externship in
collaboration with a local
Respiratory
Care
College
to help fill our void, while at the same time offer invaluable on the job training.
Method: A partnership was established with a local a
Respiratory Care Program with the intention of hiring a small group of students
for a summer externship. We presented the program to the students beginning
their second year. Students interested in the externship were required to
formally apply, provide a resume, and two letters of reference. Resumes were
screened and interviews conducted to select the best students. . We then
established weekly and monthly goals. Criteria was developed to validate student
competencies in order to receive class credit.
We consulted the California
Respiratory Care Board to ensure full compliance with the scope of practice and
level of supervision of non-licensed individuals in training programs.
Results: We successfully developed a program which
encompassed all our goals and objectives. We involved our staff to ensure their
participation and support. We presented our curriculum to the Respiratory
Therapy students with overwhelming interest and through the process have hired
2 student externs.
Conclusions: Programs
can be successfully developed between hospitals and colleges to aid in
recruitment and retention of qualified staff. Utilizing current departmental
training materials and techniques already in place, is cost effective and time
saving. Developing a program using staff involvement creates an atmosphere of
teamwork and ownership.