Faculty in the Department of Respiratory Care are keeping busy with publications, presentations and volunteer work on international non-profit medical teams.
Lonny Ashworth, professor in the respiratory care department, along with three collaborators from Japan, had an article accepted in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The article, “Implementation of Do Not Attempt Resuscitate Orders in a Japanese Nursing Home,” by Nobuhiro Asai, Yoshihiro Ohkuni, Lonny Ashworth and Norihiro Kaneko, investigated whether do not attempt resuscitation (DNAR) orders can be implemented in a standard nursing home in Japan, where routine DNAR orders are not yet common in many facilities including hospitals. The authors found that it was possible to obtain advance directives by which most residents/families rejected resuscitation and mechanical ventilation, potentially avoiding unnecessary and undesirable resuscitation procedures.
Jeff Anderson, associate professor and director of clinical education in the respiratory care department, taught two workshops about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for RNs at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center in June. The workshop looked at the pathophysiology of the disease, and how to diagnose, monitor and manage it. The workshop also included instruction on measurement of peak expiratory flow rate, and development of a competency checklist for use in their facility.
Megan Spurny, clinical assistant professor in the respiratory care department, recently returned from an International Children’s Heart Foundation (ICHF) mission to the Dominican Republic. Spurny joined ICHF in the fall of 2011 and has served as part of an interdisciplinary medical team as a registered respiratory care practitioner. She has performed a variety of tasks ranging from assisting anesthesiologists with intubations in the operating room to ventilator weaning and post operative management in the pediatric intensive care unit. ICHF is an organization that brings together medical professionals from across the globe to perform life saving surgery on pediatric patients suffering from congenital heart defects in under-served areas of the world.