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Special ReportAttitudes of Respiratory Care Practitioners and Students Regarding Pulmonary Prevention
Section snippets
Study Population
RCP students and graduates were surveyed at three sites (Valhalla, NY; Winston-Salem, NC; and Houston, TX) between 1993 and 1996. RCP graduates surveyed in New York and Texas were participants in a regional continuing education conference sponsored by the Westchester County Medical Center and a district seminar sponsored by the Texas Society for Respiratory Care. RCP graduates surveyed in North Carolina were working at the North Carolina Baptist Hospital affiliated with Wake Forest University
Descriptive Statistics
A total of 397 graduate and student RCPs completed the survey, including 76 from Winston-Salem, NC, 173 from Valhalla, NY, and 148 from Houston, TX. There were 164 RCP students and 190 RCP graduates in the sample; 43 RCPs did not indicate their training status. The mean age was 35 years (SD, 8.2 years; range, 20 to 64 years) for the RCP practitioners and 28.5 years (SD, 7.0 years; range, 18 to 48 years) for the RCP students. Age was not provided by 16% of respondents. There were 54.7% female
Summary
Traditional roles of RCPs have focused on administration of oxygen, medications, and mechanical ventilation, with particular emphasis on technological aspects of management. With current recognition of the importance of preventive therapy, active respiratory health promotion programs, and increased involvement of nonphysician medical professionals, the positive attitudes manifest in the current survey assume particular importance.
Overall, RCP respondents had a positive orientation toward
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank Pamela Dautel and Tracy Mosely for their assistance in data analysis and preparation of this report.
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This research was funded by NHLBI Preventive Pulmonary Academic Awards (M. Sockrider HL02606; G. Maguire HL02318; E. Haponik HL02479)
Portions of this report were presented at the 1996 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society, New Orleans, LA (Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1996; 153(4, part 2):A81)
Reprints of the pulmonary disease prevention survey results may be requested through the corresponding author