Institute for Continuing Education

Home Respiratory Care Review

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Identify the background and core challenges of providing respiratory care in the home environment.
• Identify the caregivers involved in home respiratory care and describe their qualifications.
• Identify the regulatory bodies overseeing home healthcare and explain their roles.
• Identify and discuss problems arising in home care, including reimbursement issues, injuries, substandard care, deaths, and litigation.
• Identify key FDA concerns regarding home care medical equipment.
• Describe recommendations from the California Board of Respiratory Care and the FDA regarding home care equipment and practice.
• Describe the key issues addressed in the American Thoracic Society's official statement on home respiratory care.
• Explain the role of home care providers in patients' end-of-life decisions.

Course Information

The first part of this course material will focus on Home Respiratory Care in the State of California, one of the nation’s most advanced states in this type of care. The second part of the course material takes a more national perspective: the American Thoracic Society’s Official Statement on Home Care for Patients with Respiratory Disorders. The Appendices present you with information regarding Advance Planning for End-of-Life Care (including a sample of an Advance Directive), AARC Clinical Practice Guidelines for Discharging Respiratory Patients, and a glossary of pulmonary terms.