HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
View All ProductsTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsCreate engaging and impactful learning experiences that meet the unique needs of your acute care staff.
View All ProductsExperience standardized and centralized healthcare provider credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsFinally, a comprehensive resource to support collecting, storing, and sharing credentialing data with ease.
View All ProductsHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MorePeople often say “I’m out of breath” when they are rushing around and busy, but do they really know what it means to struggle for every intake of air? Puffing and panting are normal during physical exertion, sure, but Respiratory Care Week (Oct. 20-26, 2019) offers the chance to look at what breathing’s all about—and ways to improve our own as well as for those around us.
First of all, are you up to speed on what the respiratory system is and does? Sure, it’s the lungs and their work, but in addition to providing oxygen to, and removing carbon dioxide from, the body, there’s also a need to know about naturally occurring, man-made, and infectious conditions that can imperil the respiratory system and cause disability or death. Specific coursework exists to help bring healthcare workers up to speed, and this is a great offering during Respiratory Care Week.
Let’s take a look at some common respiratory conditions and illnesses:
Asthma
This common, chronic respiratory condition causes difficulty breathing due to inflammation of the airways. Asthma symptoms include dry cough, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Environmental allergies, allergic reactions, infections, and pollution can all trigger an asthma attack.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is an umbrella term encompassing a suite of respiratory illnesses that cause breathlessness, or the inability to exhale normally. According to the American Lung Association (ALA), it is the third leading cause of death in the United States.
Chronic Bronchitis
Chronic bronchitis is a form of COPD identified with a chronic cough and is treated in the same manner as COPD.
Emphysema
Emphysema is another form of COPD, usually caused by smoking. Cigarette smoke damages the air sacs in the lungs to a point where they can no longer repair themselves, making exhalation difficult.
Lung Cancer
This cancer can develop anywhere in the lungs and is difficult to detect. Most often, the cancer develops in the main part of the lungs near the air sacs. The most common risk factor for lung cancer is cigarette smoke, followed by radon exposure, workplace exposure such as to asbestos and diesel fumes, secondhand smoke, air pollution, and radiation exposure from frequent chest CT scans.
Cystic Fibrosis/Bronchiectasis
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic respiratory disease caused by a defective gene that creates thick and sticky mucus that clogs up tubes and passageways. It causes repeated dangerous lung infections, as well as pancreatic difficulties that affect digestion and enzyme production.
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is a common lung disease caused by an infection in the air sacs in the lungs. These infections can be bacterial, viral, or fungal. Most people can recover in one to three weeks, but for the very young or elderly, pneumonia can be deadly.
Pleural Effusion
Pleural effusion is a collection of fluid between the lung and the chest wall in what’s called the pleural space. The fluid can collect for a variety of reasons, including pneumonia, cancer, or congestive heart failure.
Prevention Measures Reduce and Eliminate Risk
These conditions are all life-threatening, which is why it’s important to be aware of prevention measures—and to take them. The ALA recommends some steps to take:
Stop Smoking. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that smoking causes and worsens each of the illnesses listed above and produces upwards of a half-million deaths per year.
Avoid Exposure to Indoor Pollutants. Secondhand smoke, chemicals in the home and workplace, and radon all can cause or worsen lung disease. Make your home and car smoke-free. Test your home for radon.
Minimize Exposure to Outdoor Air Pollution. Avoid exercising outdoors on bad-air days.
Prevent Infection. A cold or other respiratory infection can sometimes become very serious. There are several things you can do to protect yourself:
See your primary care physician regularly. Check-ups help prevent diseases, even when you are feeling well. This is especially true for lung disease, which sometimes goes undetected until it is serious. During a check-up, your healthcare provider will listen to your breathing and your concerns.
Exercise. Whether you are young or old, slender or large, able-bodied or living with a chronic illness or disability, being physically active can help keep your lungs healthy.
If you are a respiratory therapist, none of this is news to you—take advantage of this special week that calls attention to your field of expertise to educate those around you, both coworkers and patients, of the very real steps they can take to avoid respiratory illness.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ResuscitationIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsLearn more about HealthStream's provider credentialing, privileging, & enrollment solutions for healthcare organizations.
View All CredentialingExperience standardized and centralized healthcare provider credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All SchedulingHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All Products