We have spent the last couple of months discussing jobs, licensure and work-life balance. This month, particularly for all you who are new to the field, I thought we could discuss some organizations you can join to help further your career. Our professional organization is the American Association for Respiratory Care, or AARC. The AARC ...

For the past several weeks, we have discussed work-life balance. The final entry to this discussion is what you can do within respiratory therapy to add to your balance. We all know we should be members of our professional group and the state society that is associated with it wherever we live. Though some feel these groups do not represent them, ...

I know we have touched on the subject of conferences before (here and here), but can we do it again? I recently attended a conference hosted by the Kansas and Missouri state societies. Mary Lou Guy and the state societies should be commended for putting on a great conference. Their topics were good; the speakers, excellent. Just a few tweaks and ...

Despite our recent blizzard here in Missouri, I know spring is right around the corner. The snow will take a while to melt, but once it does, life will return to normal, travel will become much easier, birds will return from their winter vacations, and respiratory therapists will be able to travel to exotic locations to attend conferences. I ...

With the winter months slowly coming to an end, it's time to start thinking about vacations and day trips and yes, attending conferences. I love going to meetings. I find them stimulating, motivating and inspiring. Plus, we all need CEUs. Don't forget you have options when it comes to CEUs. Some companies offer online CEUs. The AARC often has ...

Recently, the AARC introduced a bill that would make reimbursement better when provided by highly qualified respiratory therapists. Since I have dedicated almost 30 years, like many of you, to respiratory therapy, I felt highly qualified. But I needed to call and find out what the term ''highly qualified'' meant. I was shocked that it meant an ...

Another totally irrelevant conference pamphlet? Wow. If only these meetings covered anything I do for a living. Our professional organizations need to come to grips with the fact that while conferences on fancy procedures are nice and get some good press, most of us are too busy actually working on ''normal'' respiratory patients to make ...