Roberta Louise Cole CRT

This level of care includes diagnostics testing, therapeutics, monitoring, rehabilitation of patients with disorders of the cardiopulmonary system, as well as, education of the patient and family in regard to those disorders.

Home care fosters individual responsibility for self-management of chronic respiratory conditions. It includes individualized assessment based plans of care service developed to promote safe, proper, and sustained use of prescribed respiratory therapy medications, equipment, and techniques in the home.

Care of older patients who have age and/or disease related decremental pulmonary changes. Diagnosis and treatment is very important for this group since chronic lung disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality among them. Furthermore, as this segment of the population increases, life expectancy is being extended.

Care of residents in a long-term care environment. Respiratory modalities delivered include those similar in the general care and critical care areas but provided to less critical patients.

Respiratory emergencies are commonplace in the treatment of critical care patients. Included in the assessment measurements conducted by the respiratory therapist in the critical care settings are arterial blood gas puncture and analysis, intrarterial monitoring, bedside measurements of lung mechanics, hemodynamic monitoring, and inspired and expired gas measurements. This is coupled with the initiation and management of mechanical ventilation patients.

A coordinated plan of care to help dying patients and their families handle the burden of terminal care. Effective secretion management and relief of dyspnea are paramount in caring for patients with end-stage pulmonary disease.

The immediate availability of diagnostic and therapeutic cardiopulmonary services in the assessment and management of trauma victims, patients requiring airway management and others requiring emergency care.

Source: NUCC, CMS