About the Program

Senior Year Online

Description of the Degree Completion Program:
Students can now earn a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Care without coming to the Boise campus.  The program is designed for Registered Respiratory Therapists who want to earn a BS Degree without leaving their homes. The student is required to complete 10, three-credit courses. The program is designed for practitioners working full-time. Students can take two or three courses per semester and complete their BS degree in two years. Each of these courses will be delivered online only. Because the student is required to be a Registered Respiratory Therapist before being accepted into the program, there is no clinical course in the Senior Year.

Admission Criteria:

To be admitted to the Senior Year, students must first submit unofficial copies of their transcripts and documentation of their RRT to the department for review. Each student’s transcript will need to be evaluated individually.  The criteria for admission include:

• Admitted to Boise State University;
• Received an Associate of Science in Respiratory Care from a regionally accredited college or university;
• At least 72 credits successfully completed;

• Credentialed as a Registered Respiratory Therapist.

Students who have received an AS degree in Respiratory Care from Boise State University will have taken additional credits applicable towards their Bachelor’s degree.  They may not need to take all of the courses required for the Senior Year online.  Students who have an Associate of Applied Science Degree may need to take additional classes to satisfy core requirements.

Tuition and fees:

Students who meet at least ONE of the following criteria will pay for the online courses according to the standard university fee structure and will enroll in Section 4036 for each course:

• Enrolled in the Boise State University, Associate of Science Degree, Respiratory Care Program;
• Graduate of the Boise State University, Associate of Science Degree, Respiratory Care Program;
• State of Idaho Resident.

Students who do not meet any of the above criteria will pay for the online courses according to the self-support fee structure of $300.00 per credit hour and will enroll in Section 4046 for each course.

In addition to the per credit hour fee for classes, there will also be a $200.00 fee for challenge exam credits. Students may receive 26 Challenge credits for RESPCARE course after verification of the successful completion of the NBRC Written Registry and Clinical Simulation Exams.

Curriculum:

Senior Year Courses:

HLTHST 432 Critical Review of Health Care Research

RESPCARE 403 Respiratory Care Theory V

RESPCARE 431 Quality Improvement in Health Care

RESPCARE 440 Advanced Patient Monitoring and Assessment

RESPCARE 441 Teaching Techniques for Health Care Professionals

RESPCARE 442 Sleep Medicine

RESPCARE 443 Current Topics in Respiratory Disease

RESPCARE 444 Leadership and Management for Health Care Professionals

RESPCARE 445 Patient Advocacy and Ethical Considerations

RESPCARE 498 Senior Seminar

Senior Year Course Descriptions:

HLTHST 432 Critical Review of Health Care Research  Locating, selecting and critically reviewing medical and lay literature relevant to the practice of health care. Constructing and  researching clinical questions. Skills for keeping abreast of new medical information, deciding which of this information is valid and applicable to patient care and using this information to improve patient care. (Spring Semester)

RESPCARE 403 Respiratory Theory V Theory and application of the latest advances in Respiratory Care. Includes critical care, floor care, home care and rehabilitation. (Fall Semester)

RESPCARE 431 Quality Improvement in Health Care Introduction and evaluation of current approaches to assessing risk and improving health care quality through the practice of continuous quality improvement.  Focuses on conceptual understanding and experiential learning. (Fall Semester)

RESPCARE 440 Advanced Patient Monitoring and Assessment Techniques and methods used to analyze and evaluate the health status of critically ill patients with emphasis on the respiratory, cardiovascular and renal systems. Recommended for those individuals with experience working within a critical care facility. (Fall Semester)

RESPCARE 441 Teaching Techniques for Health Care Professionals An interactive, online course designed to provide health care professionals with the skills needed to provide effective peer and client education. (Spring Semester)

RESPCARE 442 Sleep Medicine Overview of sleep medicine, anatomy and physiology of sleep and breathing.  Introduction to sleep disorders and polysomnography including monitoring techniques and instrumentation. (Fall Semester)

RESPCARE 443 Current Topics in Respiratory Disease Discussion of current issues related to respiratory disease, including pathophysiology, management and outcomes. (Fall Semester)

RESPCARE 444 Leadership and Management for Health Care Professionals Extensive examination of current practices/trends of techniques used in the leadership of the health care environment. Emphasis will be placed upon specific skill sets used by the managers of today's workforce. (Spring Semester)

RESPCARE 445 Patient Advocacy and Ethical Considerations An advanced exploration of the responsibilities required of health care practitioners. Designed to help students develop a clearer understanding of patient's rights and, in turn, become advocates for those rights. (Spring Semester)

RESPCARE 498 Senior Seminar Online discussions of topics related to Respiratory Care. (Spring Semester)

Recommended Two-Year Semester Schedule:

Students can begin taking courses in either the fall or the spring semester; no courses will be offered in the summer semester.

Quality of the Boise State Respiratory Care Program

General Program Information

The BSU Respiratory Care Program has been in existence as a Therapist Program/Advanced Practitioner Program for over 30 years. A Bachelor of Science Degree in Respiratory Care has been offered for years.

There are five full-time faculty in the Department of Respiratory Care balancing age and experience with youth and energy. Three of our faculty have been teaching for 25-30 years each, while the remaining two are teaching for their fourth year. For more than twelve years, the faculty have been involved with international education working with students from countries including Japan and Saudi Arabia. Online courses have been available for several years attracting both international students and students from several states across the U.S.

Graduation Rates on NBRC Examinations

The Boise State Respiratory Care Program has always had an outstanding pass rate on NBRC Exams. During the past 10 years, the pass rate on the Entry Level Examination has remained over 95%. The pass rate on the Written Registry and Clinical Simulations has always been well above the national average.

Employment

All of our graduates seeking employment have secured employment in Respiratory Care upon graduation.  The Department receives frequent requests from health care facility personnel and recruiters from the greater Boise area, the State of Idaho and the surrounding states seeking our graduates.

Research

At the AARC 2004 International Congress in New Orleans, our students and faculty presented seven Poster Presentations at the Open Forum on Mechanical Ventilation. Students and faculty attending the AARC 2005 International Congress in San Antonio,  presented 12 Poster Presentations at the Open Forum on Mechanical Ventilation. Six of our students received the Respironics Fellowship for Mechanical Ventilation in 2005. During the Open Forum on Mechanical Ventilation at the AARC 2006 International Congress in Las Vegas, our students and faculty will present eight Poster Presentations.

Publications

Several faculty are involved in authoring medical educational software, have published articles in refereed journals and have presented research at the AARC International Congress.

Technology Requirements

• A Pentium PC running Windows 95 or higher OR a Macintosh system running 7.5 or higher, with a minimum of 64 MB RAM (recommended).
• Access to the Internet through a network connection or an Internet Service Provider, with 56K modem or better (recommended).
• A Web browser, either Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher or Netscape Navigator 4.03 or higher. Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher is recommended.
• An e-mail account and the ability to send and receive e-mail and e-mail file attachments. A personal account, rather than a shared account, is recommended.
• The ability to use a browser to navigate the Web, the ability to navigate among multiple open windows and the ability to open, close and save files and attachments.
• A Blackboard User Account.  When you register for a course, a Boise State Blackboard Administrator will automatically create your account.  Your username will be your BroncoWeb login ID.  Your password will be your BroncoWeb password.
• Any additional requirements as requested and specified by the course instructor, such as access to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Acrobat Reader, Real Player or other specialized hardware or software.

Description of Course Delivery Method

Courses will be delivered via Blackboard.  Blackboard is a Web-based course-management system designed to allow students and faculty to participate in classes delivered online.  Blackboard enables instructors to provide students with course materials, discussion boards, virtual chat, online quizzes, an academic resource center and more.

Online courses typically are more time-intensive than in-class courses. Students will be required to do a significant amount of reading, online posting, writing of papers and more online activities. Therefore, the student must be motivated and willing to spend a considerable amount of time on each course.  For this reason, it is not recommended that students working full-time take more than three courses per semester.