FOCUS: Journal for Respiratory Care Managers and Educators articles from September 2000

FOCUS: Journal for Respiratory Care Managers and Educators archives from September 2000

Thanks a Million!
September 22, 2000... My, favorite season of the year is now upon us. The mosquitoes are gone, its cool "sweater weather", the leaves on the trees will soon start turning nice colors and I've received the first of the thousand Christmas catalogs that will clog up my...

POWERLESS PEOPLE ALMOST ALWAYS LEAD TO POWERLESS ORGANIZATIONS.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... I've always believed that the best way to maintain your power in an organization is to give it up. It sounds counterintuitive, but trust me. It works. It works because no single person has enough eyes, ears and smarts to see and hear...

GOLF AND LEADERSHIP: The best players know which iron to use.
September 22, 2000... New research on leadership suggests that the best leaders use a collection of distinct leadership styles - each one pulled out at the right time and used in the right degree. Think of it as a skilled golfer who, in the course of a game, picks...

MOTIVATION: WHY WE DO THE THINGS WE DO!
September 22, 2000... Recently someone asked me what motivated me to become a Respiratory Therapist. I had to chuckle a little bit because I was somewhat embarrassed. I, unlike a lot of people I know, had no ulterior motive of helping people when I chose Respiratory...

"...YOU CAN'T BACK DOWN!".(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... A few weeks ago, I attended the Broadway play, "Footloose". It was a delightful experience -- and the music was great! However, my favorite among all the songs was one that starts out "Mama says..." in which "Mama shares her wisdom about many...

THE ENROLLMENT CRISIS - Will RC Education Survive?(respiratory care )
September 22, 2000... Unless you're an educator who's been hiding under a rock for the past year or so, you know that there's an enrollment crisis. For my part, I've sensed that the student pipeline has been drying up for quite a long time now. But guess I wasn't...

DON'T JUST BE A SURVIVOR AT WORK, FIND FULFILLMENT IN WHAT YOU DO!
September 22, 2000... The scene is a beautiful tropical island in the South China Sea. The people living on the island are a diverse and slowly dwindling assemblage. Their differences are many; socio-economic, age, ethnicity, sex and sexual orientation, work...

AMBULATORY PATIENTS WITH TRACHEOSTOMIES NEED PORTABILITY TOO.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... The ambulatory home oxygen therapy patient is demanding on a regular basis, lighter and longer lasting portable oxygen systems. It has, however, been a challenge to meet that demand because of decreases in reimbursement based on the...

WEANING TECHNIQUES FOR THE CLINICIAN IN EVERY MANAGER.
September 22, 2000... In my last column I discussed the clinical assessment of weaning readiness in the intubated patient. As you may recall, the assessment tool demonstrated most dependable in the majority of patients was the Rapid Shallow Breathing Index, (RSBI),...

DR. TOM PLAUT'S ASTHMA GUIDE FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES.(Review)
September 22, 2000... To say that asthma is not a "hot" topic today would be like saying that asthmatics who move to a different locale will no longer have their asthma. Unfortunately, neither statements are true. The American Association for Respiratory Care,...

NURSING SHORTAGES AFFECT RT'S.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... There is an old adage that states, "When the foot gets stepped on, the mouth says ouch." Although some of us in respiratory care hate to admit it, nursing is still the backbone of our health care system and there is a shortage of nurses, in...

A REVIEW OF INGMAR MEDICAL'S ASL 5000 SERVO LUNG SIMULATOR.(Active Servo Lung )
September 22, 2000... The following evaluation was conducted by Michael Czervinske BSRT, RRT and Paul Mathews PhD, RRT, FCCM both of the Department of Respiratory Care Education, University of Kansas. For this issue we examined, the IngMar Medical Active Servo...

HIRING THE "I'VE NEVER HELD A JOB BEFORE" WORKER.
September 22, 2000... So tell me about your previous job." "What were your responsibilities?" "Describe a situation in which you solved a tough problem" All great interrogation when you're hiring for an entry level job. Seasoned interviewers know that...

IT'S ABOUT AFFORDABILITY & LOGISTICS.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... For 30 years Bob Miglino RRT and Mike Aiello RRT, the producers of the new national FOCUS on Respiratory Care conference (April 5-7 in Cleveland), have been attending RC conferences. Indeed they've attended hundreds, nationally, regionally,...

THE ART OF INFORMATION GATHERING.
September 22, 2000... Access to advance information is critical to career planning. It buys lead time to plan a strategy or take advantage of an opportunity. Without advance information, people are shooting in the dark when making career decisions, reacting...

E-Mail ETIQUETTE FOR TODAY'S SMART MANAGERS.(Brief Article)
September 22, 2000... An increasing number of organizations, hospitals, nursing homes, home care offices, included, are communicating more and more by means of electronic messages, or E-mail, sent directly from computer to computer. E-mail, as we all now know, is...