By Debbie Bunch
November 4, 2024
Respiratory care programs are generally packed with information aimed at providing students with the knowledge and skills they will need to deliver hands-on care to patients. But increasingly, educational programs – especially those at the bachelor’s degree level – are recognizing the importance of instilling an appreciation of clinical research into their students as well.
In this final article in our series on RT researchers, an RT educator and RT manager talk about why they believe it is important to mentor students on research skills and a third RT educator shares his own research activities into learning practices that can apply to students and patients alike.
Getting AS students involved
As a distance instructor of respiratory care at Concorde Career College in Portland, OR, Phil Finch, BS-INDS, RRT, RRT-NPS, recently guided his students in a bench study aimed at examining endotracheal tube cuff pressure estimation.
“The purpose of the study was to present it to students after data were analyzed to demonstrate that cuff pressure estimation by thumb-finger opposition — i.e., bulb squeezing — has not been and is not reliable, and to show that cuff pressures below 20 cm H2O (with potential for aspiration) and above 30 cm H2O (with likelihood of tracheal wall damage) being outside the widely published safe range of 20 to 30 cm H2O would likely be the outcome of such estimation practice,” explained Finch.
While none of the three groups of students who participated in the study attempted publication of their work, they did receive results, and he believes those results may help them be better RTs once they have graduated and taken positions in critical care hospitals.
“I hope to continue coaching such student-driven research, as I am passionate about using research as a method of encouraging our associate of applied science students to develop critical thinking skills,” said Finch.
Guiding a grad student
Ankeet D. Patel, MBA, MSc, RRT, RRT-ACCS, stays extremely busy as manager of respiratory care at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, IL, but he was ready, willing, and able when he was recruited to serve as a mentor for a graduate student conducting a survey on respiratory device skin breakdown.
“I was chosen for this role because I had previously created and implemented a policy specifically addressing the prevention and management of skin breakdown related to respiratory devices,” he explained.
The mentorship required him to assist the student with completing and submitting the IRB application, helping the student develop pertinent survey questions, and facilitating the posting of the survey on AARConnect.
“The student completed his portion of the research project and an abstract poster presentation at AARC in 2023,” said Patel. “The project has now been completed, and a manuscript has been written. We have submitted it to the Advances in Skin and Wound Care Journal for publication.
Patel says he plans to continue to be involved in clinical research projects. “I am committed to ongoing learning and contributing to research in any way I can because I believe it is crucial for advancing clinical practices and improving patient care,” he said.
From nebulizers to cartoon-based learning
J.A. Allen, EdD, RRT, was introduced to clinical research years ago when he worked at a medical research center and his RT department was part of a project aimed at collecting data on the effectiveness of a nebulizer. “My job was to collect the data and record it and discuss it in focus meetings,” he said.
That role sparked a passion in him to initiate studies of his own and he soon realized what he was most interested in was the adult and pediatric learning process. He knew he would need higher degrees to pursue that interest, so he earned a master’s degree and then a doctorate in educational design.
His doctoral thesis was titled “Analysis of affective behaviors and critical thinking events in online learning,” and the research he conducted for that dissertation grew into the development of a three-step learning model that he says has influenced all his projects in visual learning innovation since.
Most recently Dr. Allen developed a graphic novel for kids called “Decoding Asthma” that is mainly distributed by the Asthma and Allergy Federation of America. While the book is being made available across the country, he wanted to reach even more kids and families, and gamification seemed to be the answer. “I designed and developed a prototype app, with the help of a team, that features different learning modalities including a graphic novel, cartoon puzzles, and a soccer shootout with asthma triggers,” he explained
He plans to begin testing the app — which will be offered to kids free of charge — this fall. The prototype is available now for anyone who would like to check it out. It is based on his three-step model, and he calls it “cartoon-based learning.”
Dr. Allen is putting the concept to work in his role as a visual learning consultant at Northern Illinois University too. “I help the professors implement visual learning innovation into the classroom,” he said. “This collaboration will lead to subjective research studies with a professor on the effectiveness of the cartoon-based learning model — ‘SSUP3’ — and the paper will be published in a peer reviewed publication.”
Let the sparks fly!
These three therapists show the important connection between education and research, whether that be in terms of sparking an interest in research in students or coming up with new and unique ways of delivering material to learners in the classroom and community alike.
Along with the other RTs featured in our RTs in Research series (read Part 1 here and Part 2 here), they bode well for the future of the profession in clinical investigation.
