Respiratory Care

Retention of respiratory therapists (RTs) is a desired institutional goal that reflects department loyalty and RTs' satisfaction. When RTs leave a department, services are disrupted and new therapists must undergo orientation and training, which requires time and expense. Despite the widely shared goal of minimal turnover, neither the annual rate nor the associated expense of turnover for RTs has been described.

Determine the rate of RT turnover and the costs related to training new staff members.

The Cleveland Clinic Health System is composed of 9 participating hospitals, which range from small, community-based institutions to large, tertiary care institutions. To elicit information about annual turnover among RTs throughout the system, we conducted a survey of key personnel in each of the hospitals' respiratory therapy departments. To calculate the costs of training, we reviewed the training schedule for an RT joining the Respiratory Therapy Section at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital. Cost estimates reflect the duration of training by various supervisory RTs, their respective wages (including benefit costs), and educational materials used in training and orientation.

Turnover rates ranged from 3% to 18% per year. Five of the 8 institutions from which rates were available reported rates greater than 8% per year. The rate of annual turnover correlated significantly with the ratio of hospital beds to RT staff (Pearson r = 0.784, rβ = 0.61, p = 0.02). The cost of training an RT at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital totaled $3,447.11.

Turnover among respiratory therapists poses a substantial problem because of its frequency and expense. Greater attention to issues affecting turnover and to enhancing retention of RTs is warranted.

Aspiration is a serious clinical concern in patients with long-term artificial airways. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of a bedside colored dye assessment of aspiration in tracheostomized patients and to determine its comparability to a more sophisticated videofluoroscopic study.

This was a prospective, blinded comparison study conducted in a large, urban, university teaching hospital. We studied 20 consecutive patients who underwent tracheostomy for bronchial hygiene needs and who were referred for videofluorographic evaluation for suspected oropharyngeal dysphagia and possible aspiration. Excluded were patients unable to follow verbal commands and those requiring mechanical ventilatory support. All patients were brought to the videofluorography suite for colored dye assessment for aspiration and videofluorographic assessment of oropharyngeal swallow. A nurse, blinded to the results of videofluorographic swallow study, performed colored dye assessments for aspiration. Speech-language pathologists, blinded to the results of the colored dye assessments, interpreted simultaneous (preliminary) and subsequent complete (final) videofluorographic evaluations of swallow.

The colored dye aspiration assessments and the videofluoroscopic studies were compared for the frequency of aspiration detection. Sensitivity and specificity were determined using standard methods. Seven patients showed no aspiration on either the colored dye test or videofluoroscopic examination. Eight patients were judged to aspirate by videofluorography but not by the colored dye test. Five patients were judged to aspirate by both the colored dye test and videofluorography. The data indicate that the colored dye test for aspiration carries a low sensitivity of 38% (95% confidence interval = ± 7%), but a high specificity of 100%. The videofluoroscopic study detected a significantly greater frequency of aspiration than did the colored dye test (p < 0.01).

The colored dye test for aspiration can provide useful information when positive, but because there is a significant false negative rate, decisions made on the basis of a negative test must be made with caution.

There is clinical interest in the use of heliox (helium-oxygen mixture) during noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV), but delivery of heliox with ventilators designed for NPPV has not been reported. We studied helium concentration ([He]) when an 80%:20% helium:oxygen mixture (heliox) was used with 5 NPPV ventilators (Knightstar, Quantum, BiPAP S/T-D30, Sullivan, and BiPAP Vision).

A simulated spontaneous breathing lung model was connected to the ventilators with a circuit incorporating a standard leak. Heliox flows of 0, 5, 10, and 18 L/min and oxygen flows of 0 and 10 L/min were titrated into the system at either a proximal position near the lung model or a distal position near the ventilator (titration method). Because the BiPAP Vision has an oxygen delivery module, it was also studied using heliox connected to the air inlet of an oxygen blender, with the blender outlet connected to the oxygen module of the ventilator (blender method). All ventilators were evaluated in spontaneous/timed mode at inspira- tory/expiratory pressures of 10/5, 15/5, and 20/5 cm H₂O. After 5 minutes, [He], oxygen concen- tration, and pressure in the lung model were recorded.

Heliox flow, NPPV settings, site of heliox infusion, and type of ventilator significantly (p < 0.05) affected [He]. [He] was > 60% when heliox flow was 18 L/min in some combinations of settings. The BiPAP S/T-D30 and Quantum occasionally functioned erratically. The BiPAP Vision (blender method) ventilator performed er- ratically with heliox unless the exhalation port test was bypassed on startup. The addition of heliox flow had no important effect on inspiratory or expiratory positive airway pressure on those breaths during which the ventilators functioned correctly.

Heliox flow was the most im- portant determinant of [He] when using heliox with NPPV. With heliox there was a potential for ventilator malfunction in some conditions. The clinical implications of these findings remain to be determined.