As I go around and set up people on CPAP machines, I am always struck by the fact that sleep labs miss the opportunity to educate patients about what CPAP is, what goals of therapy are attainable, and how CPAP may help improve their sleep. In over a year, I have yet to have a patient tell me that the sleep lab told them anything about what they ...

You never know how much time you have left. That is the lesson learned by a New Jersey man who, while hiking his third time on the 2,180 mile Appalachian Trail, passed away suddenly just 20 miles short of his goal. Robert Yerike, 67, known as ''Buffalo Bobby'' on the trail, was hiking his third ''through-hike,'' going from the starting point at ...

I always wanted to be a musician. Actually, when I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronomer. I spent hours outside at night looking at the stars. First, it was just with my eyes, then a pair of binoculars, then a telescope I won selling seeds. But underneath it all, I wanted to play music. I sang in every choir I could find (turns out a bass is a ...

USA Today is again running a story they have been following for a while. The title: ''Hunt is on for overseas college students'' (Marklein, 2011). Some things just upset me more than most. Usually they have to do with politics or ignorance, but this one puts a burr in my saddle because I am a college student and respiratory therapist, and I know ...

Well, it's that time of year. Congratulations to all the 2011 graduates of every school, and good luck with your future. Which brings me to the point of this week's blog:We need to help our young therapists find jobs. Several times on this blog, people have mentioned that part of sustaining respiratory therapy, part of building it into an ...