Respiratory Therapy Leaders' Perceptions of Value of Respiratory Care Services.

Background: Respiratory care departments are experiencing an increased need to demonstrate value in the care they deliver. Value efficiency is a concept that incorporates the value of individual treatments into the normal operations of a department. The purpose of this study was to describe respiratory care leaders' attitudes about the value of services provided by respiratory care departments.

Feasibility of a Multi-Center Respiratory Therapist Endotracheal Intubation Study.

Background: Respiratory therapists (RTs) have historically performed safe and effective intubations, yet there are limited multi-center data assessing their intubation performance. Multi-center data can be used to compare RT intubation performance to that of other professions and identify quality improvement opportunities at hospitals where RTs perform intubation. We aimed to explore the feasibility of a multi-center collaborative to evaluate RT intubation outcomes.

Retrospective Review of Transpulmonary Pressure Guided Positive End-Expiratory Pressure Titration for Mechanical Ventilation in Class II and III Obesity.

Objectives: Acute respiratory distress syndrome is treated by utilizing a lung protective ventilation strategy. Obesity presents with additional physiologic considerations, and optimizing ventilator settings may be limited with traditional means. Transpulmonary pressure (P) obtained via esophageal manometry may be more beneficial to titrating positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) in this population.

Improving Tracheostomy Decannulation Rate In Trauma Patients.

Objective: Identify the effect of a multidisciplinary tracheostomy decannulation protocol (TDP) in the trauma population.

Design: Single center retrospective review.

Setting: American College of Surgeons Level 1 Trauma Center; large academic associated community hospital.

The Current State of Antimicrobial Stewardship: Challenges, Successes, and Future Directions.

Purpose Of Review: The aim of this study is to examine the current state of the field of antimicrobial stewardship (AS) by highlighting key challenges and successes, as well as exciting future directions.

Recent Findings: AS mandates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and the Joint Commission (TJC) will stimulate increased compliance with current AS standards, but overall compliance is currently poor. Key challenges to progress in the field of AS include insufficient workforce and monetary resources, poorly defined AS metrics, and much needed expansion beyond the inpatient hospital setting.