- NMU Bulletin

RSP 106 Introduction to Respiratory Therapy 1 cr.

• Offered: Winter

RT's role in health promotion and education, disease prevention and treatment, homecare, hospitals, subacute, SNFs, hospice and doctors' offices. Licensing, credentialing and professional organizations. Introduction to medical ethics, professionalism and patients' rights and responsibilities. Includes CPR and infection control.

RSP 271 Introduction to Oxygen Therapy 3 cr.

• Offered: Fall
• Prerequisites: Admission to Respiratory Therapy program.

Goals and administration of medical gas therapy; evaluation of its effects. Mechanisms of external respiration, oxygen transport and hypoxmia. Laws and clinical guidelines governing use. Limitations, complications and contraindications. Lab practice with equipment.

RSP 272 Respiratory Pharmacology 2 cr.

• Offered: Fall
• Prerequisites: Admission to Respiratory Therapy program.

Basic pharmacologic principles. Autonomic nervous system, catacholamines and mechanisms of bronchospasm and bronchodilation. Classes and types of pulmonary agents and calculating doses.

RSP 273 The Cardiopulmonary System 4 cr.

• Offered: Fall
• Prerequisites: Admission to Respiratory Therapy program.

Functional and cardiopulmonary anatomy and physiology; mechanics of ventilation and cardiac output. Musculoskeletal and nervous systems of the lungs and thorax, myocardial mechanics and total body fluid volume. Concepts of ventilation/perfusion ratio and regional changes, deadspace and shunting.

RSP 274 Essentials of Neonatal Respiratory Care 4 cr.

• Offered: Winter
• Prerequisites: Admission to Respiratory Therapy program.

Fetal circulation and lung development. Fetal origins of cardiopulmonary disease. Anatomy and physiology of the neonatal lung, pathophysiology of prematurity and respiratory management of the high-risk newborn.

RSP 275 Cardiopulmonary Diagnostics 4 cr.

• Offered: Winter
• Prerequisites: Admission to Respiratory Therapy program.

Assessment of cardiopulmonary system, monitoring and diagnostics: PFTs; ABGs; hemodynamics; ECG; non-invasive cardiopulmonary diagnostics; exercise testing; sleep studies. Laboratory practice performing tests and interpreting results.

RSP 276 Therapeutic Modalities 4 cr.

• Offered: Winter
• Prerequisites: Admission to Respiratory Therapy program.

Aerosol and humidy therapy; medical gas therapy; breathing exercises, lung inflation and bronchial hygene principles and therapies. Setting goals, meeting criteria, selecting therapeutic modalities and evaluating effects. Laboratory practice in setting up and adjusting equipment, using stethoscope and performing basic chest exam.

RSP 277 Respiratory Care Clinical Experience I 4 cr.

• Offered: Winter
• Prerequisites: Admission to Respiratory program.

Student will work in hospital bedside care and pulmonary rehab environments under supervision, acquiring and evaluating clinical data, setting up equipment, initiating and performing prescribed therapies, delivering medications, teaching patients and evaluating effects. This experience will extend into the summer.

RSP 371 Common Acute Pulmonary Problems 3 cr.

• Offered: Fall
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through 277 and RSP 374.

Study of etiologies and pathologies of critical respiratory abnormalities, disease and injuries from neonatal through geriatric. Effects of congenital defects, acquired conditions, traumas and multiple system failures upon ventilation and respiration.

RSP 372 Airway Care 3 cr.

• Offered: Fall
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through 277, and RSP 374.

Airway management, including types of artificial airways, indication, sections, complications, patient safety and maintenance. Laboratory manipulation of airways, tracheostomy tubes and care, nasal, oral and endotracheal suctioning and aseptic technique.

RSP 373 Positive Pressure Therapy 4 cr.

• Offered: Fall
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through 277, and RSP 374.

Application and effects of lung inflation with positive pressure. Lung compliance, cardiac output and shunts. Indications, goals, hazards, guidlines, criteria and application of various modes of positive pressure. Laboratory practice in setting up, monitoring and adjusting equipment for optimal therapeutic effect.

RSP 374 Respiratory Care Clinical Experience II 2 cr.

• Offered: Summer
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through 277.

Student will work in hospital pulmonary lab environment under supervision, preparing equipment and performing diagnostic procedures studied in Cardiopulmonary Diagnostics class.

RSP 375 Mechanical Ventilation I 3 cr.

• Offered: Fall
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through 277, and RSP 374.

Concepts of mechanical ventilation, early efforts and why they worked. Physiologic capabilties, indications, limitations of mechanical ventilators and factors affecting, shaping and controlling mechanical breaths. Classification of mechanical ventilators and making adjustments for desired effects.

RSP 376 Mechanical Ventilation II 3 cr.

• Offered: Winter
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through 277, RSP 371 through RSP 375, and RSP 377.

Ventilator modes, sensitivities and interactions with patients. Neonatal ventilation and other special needs; selecting correct ventilator and mode. Ethical considerations of life support; indications for and essential steps leading to ventilator commitment. Partial support and weaning from ventilator. Lab practice with advanced modes and trouble-shooting.

RSP 377 Respiratory Care Clinical Experience III 2 cr.

• Offered: Fall
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through RSP 277, and RSP 374.

Students will work under supervision in hospital intensive care and neonatal intensive care environments, assessing acutely ill patients, performing and evaluating therapies, and setting up, adjusting and monitoring mechanical ventilation. The emphasis in this course is the technical nature of mechanical ventilation.

RSP 378 Issues in Respiratory Care 2 cr.

• Offered: Winter
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through RSP 277, RSP 371 through RSP 375, and RSP 377.

Clinical practice guidelines, pathways and case management; medical documentation and reimbusement; preparation for national exams; self-assessment testing.

RSP 379 Special Population Assessments and Management 2 cr.

• Offered: Winter
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through RSP 277, RSP 371 through RSP 375, and RSP 377.

Recognizing and managing diversity and special needs. Teaching and treating people with obstacles to learning due to factors such as disability, age, ethnicity or culture. Providing care in homes, skilled nursing faciltities and hospices.

RSP 384 Respiratory Care Clinical Experience IV 5 cr.

• Offered: Winter
• Prerequisites: Successful completion of RSP 271 through RSP 277, RSP 371 through RSP 375, and RSP 377.

Students will work under supervision in a hospital environment with a concentration in adjusting and monitoring mechanical ventilation on critical care adult and neonate patients. Students will incorporate diagnostic information to guide decisions regarding ventilator management of critically ill patients. Critical thinking skills will be used to prepare cases for clinical care conferences.