Archived Assessment Report
| Program | Respiratory Therapy AAS Degree |
| Assessment Reporter | [email protected] |
| Theme | Practicing Community |
| Review Year | 2024-2025 - Midpoint Report |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Focus Area |
|---|---|
| 1. Comprehend, apply and evaluate clinical data related to patient information systems, therapeutic rationale and equipment application relevant for data collection, equipment management and clinical practice of cardiopulmonary care. | There is a competency checklist for each semester prior to the students advancing to the next term. We can effectively evaluate if the student meets the competencies for data collection, equipment management and clinical practices set forth by accreditation and national standards. |
| 2. Exhibit behaviors consistent with professional and employer expectations to include characteristics of personal behavior, interests and attitudes, communication skills, and teamwork necessary to be successful in securing and maintaining a career in the health care industry. | During the 4th and final semester of the program we bring in the hospital pulmonary directors to conduct mock interviews with our students. This allows them to provide feedback to the students to improve as well as get their names out in the field. We conduct advisory meetings to ensure we are meeting the needs of employers. We also set professional standards that are directly related to those expectations of employers. |
| 3. Gather appropriate clinical information, analyze data and use critical thinking skills to solve problems and make decisions in the delivery of safe, efficient, effective Respiratory Care. | We ensure to put our students in simulations that mimic real life scenarios. These enhance critical thinking skills as well as effective respiratory care. We also ensure safety is the number one priority when completing simulations. |
| 4. Perform technical skills with proficiency in all health care settings to include initiating, conducting, evaluating and modifying therapy based on patient response and performing diagnostic testing, therapeutic treatments and maintaining life support systems for patients with cardiopulmonary diseases. | We ensure to put our students in simulations that have mechanical ventilators imbedded in the scenario, they mimic real life scenarios. These enhance critical thinking skills as well as effective respiratory care. We also ensure safety is the number one priority when completing simulations. In combination with this we have pathophysiology courses that offer information on how to effectively treat patients with cardiopulmonary diseases. We send our students to many speciality rotations in clinical to learn the things we cannot mimic in the classroom or lab. These include pulmonary function testing, sleep study rotations, intensive care units, and many others. Within the ICUs the students are exposed to ventilators on real patients. |
| 5. Value continued learning through growth and development as a health care professional by active participation as students & graduates in professional organizations and educational activities within the local, state, national and international communities that offer continuing education and professional services to respiratory care practitioners. | Students are offered opportunites throughout the course of the program that give them the ability to work with the community and other professional organizations. These organizations include the American Lung Association, the New Mexico Society for Respiratory Care, The National Board for Respiratory Care and the American Association for Respiratory Care. Some of these are volunteer opportunities while others are attendance to learn new medical practices and equipment. |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population or Courses Assessed | Hypothetical Analysis/Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Comprehend, apply and evaluate clinical data related to patient information systems, therapeutic rationale and equipment application relevant for data collection, equipment management and clinical practice of cardiopulmonary care. | The competency checklist has each task and piece of equipment that is needed per student per term. | RT 1090, RT 1590, RT 2090, RT 2490 | The standard for each course is to obtain 3 mandatory competencies per semester that are essential to be an effective and safe respiratory therapist. In combination with that, we have a threshold of a passing score of a 75% in all courses to ensure student knowledge is up to par. |
| 2. Exhibit behaviors consistent with professional and employer expectations to include characteristics of personal behavior, interests and attitudes, communication skills, and teamwork necessary to be successful in securing and maintaining a career in the health care industry. | Mock interviews, meetings, expectations and standards to meet employees expectations and standards | RT 2460 | Our target is to ensure our students not only learn but understand respiratory therapy aspects and duties and provide eligibility and confidence to take and pass their National Board Exams. We hope to put students into the field capable of doing the job with minimal training and provide them with an easy transition from school to a career. |
| 3. Gather appropriate clinical information, analyze data and use critical thinking skills to solve problems and make decisions in the delivery of safe, efficient, effective Respiratory Care. | Simulations | RT 1060, RT 1092, RT 1560, RT 1592, RT 1593, RT 2060, Rt 2092, RT 2093, RT 2460, RT 2493, RT 2492 | By providing simulations, we are giving the students knowledge of how to handle difficult situations prior to them occurring in the field. Our target is to ensure the students are prepared for emergency and difficult situations. |
| 4. Perform technical skills with proficiency in all health care settings to include initiating, conducting, evaluating and modifying therapy based on patient response and performing diagnostic testing, therapeutic treatments and maintaining life support systems for patients with cardiopulmonary diseases. | Simulations, Clinical rotations for real-life patient interactions | RT 1090, RT 1080, RT 1590, RT 1580, RT 2090, RT 2080, RT 2490, RT 2480 | By providing simulations, we are giving the students knowledge of how to handle difficult situations prior to them occurring in the field. Our target is to ensure the students are prepared for emergency and difficult situations. Clinical rotations provide the real-life situations with an instructor right next to them for support, this will enhance their skills for managing patients within the field. |
| 5. Value continued learning through growth and development as a health care professional by active participation as students & graduates in professional organizations and educational activities within the local, state, national and international communities that offer continuing education and professional services to respiratory care practitioners. | Opportunity offer | RT 1060, RT 1560, RT 2060, RT 2460 | These entities will provide the students with networking opportunities, involvement within the community and Respiratory Therapy Societies where the students will learn the new practices within the medical field. |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Results | Reflection on Focus Area | Intepretation of Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Comprehend, apply and evaluate clinical data related to patient information systems, therapeutic rationale and equipment application relevant for data collection, equipment management and clinical practice of cardiopulmonary care. | 100% of our students passed their competencies for all classes with a grade of 100%. | The results do support the original focus area. | Exceptional outcomes for our student in understanding and demonstrating the knowledge of competencies for the listed courses. |
| 2. Exhibit behaviors consistent with professional and employer expectations to include characteristics of personal behavior, interests and attitudes, communication skills, and teamwork necessary to be successful in securing and maintaining a career in the health care industry. | 100% of our student have job placement post-graduation. 100% of our student have positive feedback from various employers. | The results do support and reflect the original focus area. | Exceptional job placement and employer satisfaction rates. |
| 3. Gather appropriate clinical information, analyze data and use critical thinking skills to solve problems and make decisions in the delivery of safe, efficient, effective Respiratory Care. | 100% passing rate of simulations in all courses. If a student failed a portion of a simulation we complete a remediation of the same competencies to ensure the student has a great understanding of the required task and the student is re-tested. In 2023-2024 we have not had a student who did not pass a simulation. We also had over 90% of board passing rates in the clinical simulation portion. | The results fully support the original focus area. | The interpretation of the results shows us that what we are doing to support these students with these competencies are providing exceptional results. |
| 4. Perform technical skills with proficiency in all health care settings to include initiating, conducting, evaluating and modifying therapy based on patient response and performing diagnostic testing, therapeutic treatments and maintaining life support systems for patients with cardiopulmonary diseases. | 100% passing rate of simulations in all courses. If a student failed a portion of a simulation we complete a remediation of the same competencies to ensure the student has a great understanding of the required task and the student is re-tested. In 2023-2024 we have not had a student who did not pass a simulation. We also had over 90% of board passing rates in the clinical simulation portion. Cardiopulmonary Pathophysiology is a course in which we hold a high standard of a passing score of a 75%. In the year 2023, 100% of students passed this class. In year 2024, we had over 90% of students who passed this course. 100% of students in 2023-2024 passed clinical courses. | The results fully support the original focus area. | The interpretation of the results shows us that what we are doing to support these students with these competencies are providing exceptional results. |
| 5. Value continued learning through growth and development as a health care professional by active participation as students & graduates in professional organizations and educational activities within the local, state, national and international communities that offer continuing education and professional services to respiratory care practitioners. | 50% of our students attend events in which the community and professional organizations host. Due to the lack of full engagement from all students, we mandate clinical rotations each term, this is 840 hours. In the year 2023-2024 this far, all students have passed and obtained their hours within various facilities in the state. These rotations allow our students to work with not only patients but also the families of these patients. This is community involvement. | The results do support the focus area, however, we have identified why the engagement is low volunteer opportunities. This is due to the cost of attending events or the fact that students cannot work on these days of events. Our students are in class/clinical 4 days a week in which they are only offered 3 days a week to work and spend time with family. Students do not always have the time or money to volunteer. | The results are not as adequate as we would like, however, some of it is out of the program's control. |
| 1. Comprehend, apply and evaluate clinical data related to patient information systems, therapeutic rationale and equipment application relevant for data collection, equipment management and clinical practice of cardiopulmonary care. | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | We do not currently need to adjust our plan because we have 100% passing rate. |
| Type of Change | |
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | N/A |
| What data motivated the change? | N/A |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | N/A |
| 2. Exhibit behaviors consistent with professional and employer expectations to include characteristics of personal behavior, interests and attitudes, communication skills, and teamwork necessary to be successful in securing and maintaining a career in the health care industry. | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | No changes will be made at this time. Currently we have 100% job placement and positive feedback regarding our students. |
| Type of Change | |
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | N/A |
| What data motivated the change? | N/A |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | N/A |
| 3. Gather appropriate clinical information, analyze data and use critical thinking skills to solve problems and make decisions in the delivery of safe, efficient, effective Respiratory Care. | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | We are not current making any changes because we have 100% passing rate of simulations in all courses. |
| Type of Change | |
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | N/A |
| What data motivated the change? | N/A |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | N/A |
| 4. Perform technical skills with proficiency in all health care settings to include initiating, conducting, evaluating and modifying therapy based on patient response and performing diagnostic testing, therapeutic treatments and maintaining life support systems for patients with cardiopulmonary diseases. | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | Although we have 100% passing rate, we are adding more emergency management simulations and scenarios to our students curriculum. |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | No, we will utilize board clinical simulation examination scores to assess this competency. |
| What data motivated the change? | This will better support students to be prepared for real life emergency situations. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | Students will feel more confident in emergency situations post graduation. |
| 5. Value continued learning through growth and development as a health care professional by active participation as students & graduates in professional organizations and educational activities within the local, state, national and international communities that offer continuing education and professional services to respiratory care practitioners. | |
|---|---|
| Describe the change that was implemented. | We will continue to reach out to these entities to come into our classroom and allow the professional organizations to explain what they offer to students and the benefits of being apart of these organizations when they graduate and even when they are in school. Some organizations are also now offering scholarships to help with the funding for students, we are inquiring about these opportunities. We also have many scholarships to offer students with our Klepper Endowment to help with costs for students. |
| Type of Change |
|
| Change in Assessment Approach or Tools? | No. |
| What data motivated the change? | Student attendance and involvement of outside, professional organization opportunities have been about 50%. We received feedback that this is due to the time consumption it takes to participate and cost. |
| Hypothesis about the effect the change will have? | More student involvement if we can bring the organizations into the classroom during course time. We will also make it affordable for students with scholarships, so this will increase the engagement from students who cannot afford to do so. |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Description of Assessment Tool | Population of Courses Assessed |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Comprehend, apply and evaluate clinical data related to patient information systems, therapeutic rationale and equipment application relevant for data collection, equipment management and clinical practice of cardiopulmonary care. | Clinical competency checklist | RT 1090, RT 1590, RT 2090, RT 2490 |
| 2. Exhibit behaviors consistent with professional and employer expectations to include characteristics of personal behavior, interests and attitudes, communication skills, and teamwork necessary to be successful in securing and maintaining a career in the health care industry. | Mock interview feedback as well as employer satisfaction feedback. | RT 2460 |
| 3. Gather appropriate clinical information, analyze data and use critical thinking skills to solve problems and make decisions in the delivery of safe, efficient, effective Respiratory Care. | Clinical competencies and simulation feedback | RT 1060, RT 1092, RT 1560, RT 1592, RT 1593, RT 2060, Rt 2092, RT 2093, RT 2460, RT 2493, RT 2492 |
| 4. Perform technical skills with proficiency in all health care settings to include initiating, conducting, evaluating and modifying therapy based on patient response and performing diagnostic testing, therapeutic treatments and maintaining life support systems for patients with cardiopulmonary diseases. | Clinical rotations and competencies, Instructor Feedback, Pathophysiology overall grades | RT 1090, RT 1080, RT 1590, RT 1580, RT 2090, RT 2080, RT 2490, RT 2480 |
| 5. Value continued learning through growth and development as a health care professional by active participation as students & graduates in professional organizations and educational activities within the local, state, national and international communities that offer continuing education and professional services to respiratory care practitioners. | We will utilize attendance of the given professional opportunities for students. | RT 1060, RT 1560, RT 2060, RT 2460 |
| Learning Outcome (or Gen Ed Essential Skill) | Summary of Second Round Results | Intepretation of Results, Pre- and Post-Change | Follow up questions, possible next steps |
|---|
Describe any change in student achievement observed as part of this assessment process, and what led to those changes.
Describe long-term changes in the program(s) that the assessment process led to, and what motivated those changes?
What did you learn about the teaching and learning of "Practicing Community" in your programs?
Describe any external factors affecting the program or affecting assessment of the program.