,

A Career in Breathing

,

“For me there is nothing more rewarding than teaching others how to save lives,” she says. ”Other than the pulmonologist and the anesthesiologist, no other member of a patient’s healthcare team knows more about the respiratory system and the respiratory life-saving techniques than the respiratory therapist.”

Woburn Woman Chooses Career in Respiratory Care

Courtney Webb, a 2013 graduate of Woburn High School, had thought about becoming a teacher, a dental hygienist, or maybe a nurse.

The 23-year old knew an office job wasn’t the right fit for her and that she liked science, but narrowing her choices wasn’t easy.

While working as a unit secretary at Winchester Hospital, she had the opportunity to observe the respiratory therapists, and she was intrigued.

Massachusetts Continuing Education Changes

The MSRC has received multiple requests for an update on the proposed changes to the continuing education requirements. The Massachusetts Board of Respiratory Care has not made a decision on the proposed changes.

When the Board of Respiratory Care makes their decision on the proposed changes, we will notify the membership. Please click on the link above to learn more about the proposed changes.

Position Statement : NO on Question 1

The purpose of this position statement is to (1) make the membership aware of the Massachusetts Society for Respiratory Care (MSRC) board’s decision to support the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety in opposition to Question 1 in the November, 2018 election and (2) discuss how the proposed law as it exists conflicts with the vision of the MSRC.

Over the past several months the MSRC board, composed of respiratory therapists, supervisors and directors from a wide range of healthcare organizations throughout the state, became acutely aware of the potential impact of the proposed law.  The impact on the size and function of their departments and potential limitations of patient access to care.

Based on the information available, the board has voted in favor of joining the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety in opposition to Question 1.

In doing so, the MSRC joins the American Nurses Association of Massachusetts, the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses,  the Massachusetts Emergency Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Organization for Nurse Leaders, and many other leading healthcare associations as supporters of the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety.

It is the vision of the MSRC, a chartered affiliate of the American Association for Respiratory Care, to “encourage and promote professional excellence, advance the science and practice of respiratory care, and serve as an advocate for patients, their families, the public, the profession and the respiratory therapist.”  With this vision in mind, we would like to highlight several potential conflicts of the proposed law.

  • The potential limitation of patient access to care through the closure of hospital beds while organizations attempt to remain compliant with the proposed law.

  • The limitation of patient access to care through the potential reduction of specialty services as a means to offset costs associated with the proposed law.

  • The potential loss of access to the care of respiratory therapists through downsizing or elimination of respiratory therapy services as a means to offset costs associated with the proposed law.

Though proponents of the proposed law assure the public that the newly mandated ratios must be met “without diminishing the staffing levels of its health care workforce” or more plainly, without the downsizing and elimination of other services, the proposed law fails to include “respiratory therapist” by name within the list of “Health Care Workforce.”    

It is with this that we ask you to please join us in our mission, and join us in support of the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety in opposition to ballot Question 1.

 

For additional information the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety can be found at https://www.protectpatientsafety.com/supporters/

 

Against the odds, NECC honors grad heads to Children's Hospital as respiratory therapist

SabrinaHamel, 23, recently graduated from Northern Essex Community College with an associate in science degree and will start working as a respiratory therapist at Boston Children's Hospital this week. The young woman who only a few years ago had a chronic absenteeism problem earned a 3.7 grade point average at NECC.

,

From a Self-Proclaimed “Hot Disaster” to High Honors Graduate

,

Five years after she dropped out of Methuen High School, Sabrina Hamel will celebrate her  from Northern Essex Community College—which she earned with high honors—and a new job at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.

© Copyright Massachusetts Society for Respiratory Care, 2024