Department of Administrative Servivces
Division of Professional Regulation
PUBLIC NOTICE
proposed
1770 Respiratory Care Practice Advisory Council of the Delaware Board of Medical Practice
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE, pursuant to 29 Del.C. Ch. 101 and 24 Del.C. §1770B(e)(5), the Respiratory Care Practice Advisory Council of the Delaware Board of Medical Practice proposes to revise its Rules and Regulations. The proposed revisions will delete a subsection regarding the accumulation of continuing education and add a new section to address and regulate the administration of sedation and analgesia by Respiratory Care Practitioners.
A public hearing will be held on the proposed Rules and Regulations on January 18, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. in the Second Floor Conference Room A of the Cannon Building, 861 Silver Lake Boulevard, Dover, Delaware 19904. The Council will receive and consider input in writing from any person concerning the proposed Rules and Regulations. Any written comments should be submitted to the Council in care of Gayle Franzolino at the above address. The final date to submit written comments shall be at the above scheduled public hearing. Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of the proposed Rules and Regulations or to make comments at the public hearing should notify Gayle Franzolino at the above address or by calling her at (302) 744-4520.
1770 Respiratory Care Practice Advisory Council
8.0 Continuing Education
8.1 Contact Hours Required for Renewal
8.1.1 The respiratory care practitioner shall be required to complete (20) twenty contact hours biennially and to retain all certificates and other documented evidence of participation in an approved/accredited continuing education program for a period of at least (3) three years. Upon request, such documentation shall be made available to the Council for random audit and verification purposes. All contact hours must be completed at least sixty (60) days prior to the end of the renewal year.
8.1.2 Contact hours shall be prorated for new licensees in accordance with the following schedule:
Two years remaining in the licensing
cycle requires - 20 hours
One year remaining in the licensing
cycle requires - 10 hours
Less than one year remaining in the
licensing cycle - exempt
8.2 Exemptions
8.2.1 A licensee who because of a physical or mental illness during the license period could not complete the continuing education requirement may apply through the Council to the Board of Medical Practice for a waiver. A waiver would provide for an extension of time or exemption from some or all of the continuing education requirements for one (1) renewal period. Should the illness extend beyond one (1) renewal period, a new request must be submitted.
8.2.2 A request for a waiver must be submitted sixty (60) days prior to the license renewal date.
8.3 Criteria for Qualification of Continuing Education Program Offerings
The following criteria are given to guide respiratory care practitioners in selecting an appropriate activity/program and to guide the provider in planning and implementing continuing education activities/programs. The overriding consideration in determining whether a specific activity/program qualifies as acceptable continuing education shall be that it is a planned program of learning which contributes directly to the professional competence of the respiratory care practitioner.
8.3.1 Definition of Contact Hours
8.3.1.1 Fifty consecutive minutes of academic course work, correspondence course, or seminar/workshop shall be equivalent to one (1) contact hour. A fraction of a contact hour may be computed by dividing the minutes of an activity by 50 and expressed as a decimal.
8.3.1.2 Recredentialing examination for certified respiratory therapy technician, (CRTT), and registered respiratory therapist, (RRT), shall be equivalent to five (5) contact hours.
8.3.1.3 Successful completion of advanced specialty exams administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care, (NBRC), shall be equal to five (5) contact hours for each exam.
8.3.1.4 One (1) semester hour shall be equal to fifteen (15) contact hours.
8.3.1.5 One (1) quarter hour shall be equal to ten (10) contact hours.
8.3.1.6 Two (2) hours (120 minutes) of clinical educational experience shall be equal to one (1) contact hour.
8.3.1.7 Fifty (50) consecutive minutes of presentation of lectures, seminars or workshops in respiratory care or health care subjects shall be equivalent to one (1) contact hour.
8.3.1.8 Preparing original lectures, seminars, or workshops in respiratory care or health care subjects shall be granted no more than two (2) contact hours for each contact hour of presentation.
8.3.1.9 Performing clinical or laboratory research in health care shall be reviewed and may be granted an appropriate number of contact hour(s) at the Council’s discretion.
8.3.2 Learner Objectives
8.3.2.1 Objectives shall be written and be the basis for determining
content, learning experience, teaching methodologies, and evaluation.
8.3.2.2 Objectives shall be specific, attainable, measurable, and describe expected outcomes for the learner.
8.3.3 Subject Matter
Appropriate subject matter for continuing education shall include the following:
8.3.3.1 Respiratory care science and practice and other scientific topics related thereto
8.3.3.2 Respiratory care education
8.3.3.3 Research in respiratory care and health care
8.3.3.4 Management, administration and supervision in health care delivery
8.3.3.5 Social, economic, political, legal aspects of health care
8.3.3.6 Teaching health care and consumer health education
8.3.3.7 Professional requirements for a formal respiratory care program or a related field beyond those that were completed for the issuance of the original license
8.3.4 Description
Subject matter shall be described in outline form and shall include learner objectives, content, time allotment, teaching methods, faculty, and evaluation format.
8.3.5 Types of Activities/Programs
8.3.5.1 An academic course shall be an activity that is approved and presented by an accredited post-secondary educational institution which carries academic credit. The course may be within the framework of a curriculum that leads to an academic degree in respiratory care beyond that required for the original license, or relevant to respiratory care, or any course that shall be necessary to a respiratory care practitioner’s professional growth and development.
8.3.5.2 A correspondence course contains the following elements:
8.3.5.2.1 developed by a professional group, such s an education corporation or professional association.
8.3.5.2.2 follows a logical sequence.
8.3.5.2.3 involves the learner by requiring active response to module materials and provides feedback.
8.3.5.2.4 contains a test to indicate progress and to verify completion of module.
8.3.5.2.5 supplies a bibliography for continued study.
8.3.5.3 A workshop contains the following elements:
8.3.5.3.1 developed by a knowledgeable individual or group in the subject matter.
8.3.5.3.2 follows a logical sequence.
8.3.5.3.3 involves the learner by requiring active response, demonstration and feedback.
8.3.5.3.4 requires hands-on experience.
8.3.5.3.5 supplies a bibliography for continued study.
8.3.5.4 Advanced and specialty examinations offered by the NBRC or other examinations as approved by the Council including:
Recredential exam
Pediatric/perinatal specialty exam
Pulmonary function credentialing exams
Advanced practitioner exam
8.3.5.5 Course preparation
8.3.5.6 Clinical education experience must be:
8.3.5.6.1 Planned and supervised.
8.3.5.6.2 Extended beyond the basic level of preparation of the individual who is licensed.
8.3.5.6.3 Based on a planned program of study.
8.3.5.6.4 Instructed and supervised by individual(s) who possess the appropriate credentials related to the discipline being taught.
8.3.5.6.5 Conducted in a clinical setting.
8.4 Educational Providers
8.4.1 Continuing education contact hours awarded for activities/programs approved by the following are appropriate for fulfilling the continuing education requirements pursuant to these regulations:
American Association for Respiratory Care.
American Medical Association under Physician Category I.
American Thoracic Society
American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
American Heart Association
American Nurses Association
American College of Chest Physicians
American Society of Anesthesiologists
American Sleep Disorders Association
Other professional or educational organizations as approved periodically by the Council.
8.5 Accumulation of Continuing Education
8.5.1 When a licensee applies for license renewal, a minimum of twenty (20) contact hours in activities that update skills and knowledge levels in respiratory care theory, practice and science is required. The total of twenty (20) contact hours per renewal period shall include the following categories:
4 DE Reg. 694 (10/1/00)
8.5.1.1 A minimum of 12 contact hours of continuing education required for renewal must be acquired in a field related to the science and practice of respiratory care as set forth in Subsection 8.3.3, Subject Matter, 8.3.3.1, 8.3.3.2, or 8.3.3.3.
8.5.1.2 The remaining 8 contact hours of the continuing education required for renewal may be selected from Subsection 8.3.3, Subject Matter.
8.5.2 Contact hours, accumulated through preparation for, presentation of, or participation in activities/programs as defined are limited to application in meeting the required number of contact hours per renewal period as follows:
8.5.2.1 Presentation of respiratory care education programs, including preparation time, to a maximum of four contact hours.
8.5.2.2 Presentation of a new respiratory care curriculum, including preparation, to a respiratory care education program, to a maximum of four contact hours.
8.5.2.3 Preparation and publication of respiratory care theory, practice or science, to a maximum of four contact hours.
8.5.2.4 Research projects in health care, respiratory care theory, practice or science, to a maximum of four contact hours.
8.5.2.5 Infection control programs from facility or agency to a maximum of one contact hour.
8.5.2.6 Presentation or participation in review or recertification in American Heart Association or Red Cross provider or instructor programs, such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Basic Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, or CPR, to a maximum of two contact hours per program.
8.5.2.7 Academic course work, related to health care or health care administration, to a maximum of four contact hours.
8.6 Review/Approval of Continuing Education Contact Hours
8.6.1 The Council may review the documentation of any respiratory care practitioner’s continuing education.
8.6.2 The Council may determine whether the activity/program documentation submitted meets all criteria for continuing education as specified in these regulations.
8.6.3 Any continuing education not meeting all provisions of these rules shall be rejected in part or in whole by the Council.
8.6.4 Any incomplete or inaccurate documentation of continuing education may be rejected in part or in whole by the Council.
8.6.5 Any continuing education that is rejected must be replaced by acceptable continuing education within a reasonable period of time established by the Council. This continuing education will not be counted towards the next renewal period.
8.6.6 Each license not renewed in accordance with this section shall expire, but may within a period of three years thereafter be reinstated upon payment of all fees as set by the Division of Professional Regulation of the State of Delaware.
8.6.7 An applicant wishing to reinstate an expired license shall provide documentation establishing completion of the required 20 hours of continuing education during the two-year period preceding the application for renewal.
4 DE Reg. 694 (10/1/00)
12.0 Sedation and analgesia regulations:
Moderate Sedation – A drug-induced depression of consciousness during which patients respond purposefully to verbal commands, either alone or accompanied by light tactile stimulation. No interventions are required to maintain a patent airway and spontaneous ventilation is adequate. Cardiovascular function is maintained.
Direct Supervision – The physician will be present during the initial and continued administration of moderate sedation and will interpret monitoring.
12.1 Certain recognized and accepted respiratory care procedures may involve the administration of sedative and analgesic medications by Respiratory Care Practitioners and the monitoring of patients who have received such medications. Such procedures include, but are not limited to:
12.1.1 Bronchoscopy
12.1.2 Intubation
12.1.3 Administration of anesthetic agents during mechanical ventilation
12.2 In the process of providing respiratory care, Respiratory Care Practitioners, under the direct supervision of a physician with clinical privileges to administer moderate sedation, may administer sedative and analgesic medications to induce moderate sedation, pursuant to the order of a licensed physician, who is licensed and credentialed to prescribe and administer the particular medication(s). The route of administration shall be appropriate to the procedure.
12.3 Any administration and monitoring by a Respiratory Care Practitioner of a sedative or analgesic which may induce moderate sedation must be:
12.3.1 In accordance with the current version of the “Practice Guidelines for Sedation and Analgesia by Non-Anesthesiologist” published by the American Society of Anesthesiologists as the same may from time to time be amended, AND,
12.3.2 Undertaken only by Respiratory Care Practitioners who have successfully completed a formal educational experience and periodic competency assessment in the administration of sedatives, and analgesics. Such training and education shall be expressly approved for facilities accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body approved by federal regulations in which the procedure is being performed. Such training shall include:
12.3.2.1 Competency assessment for licensed Respiratory Care Practitioners administering sedation and analgesic:
12.3.2.1.1 Successfully complete a formal dysrhythmia or EKG module or course, or the institution’s approved dysrhythmia competency course.
12.3.2.1.2 Successfully complete a medication pharmacology competency specific to sedation and analgesic.
12.3.2.1.3 Current Basic Cardiac Life Support certification.
12.3.2.1.4 Completion of a department specific competency related to sedation and analgesic provided by facilities accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body approved by federal regulations.
12.3.2.1.5 Successful completion of the relevant Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) or Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) or Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) course every two (2) years.
12.3.3 These periodic competencies require approval in writing by the department medical director or by another Delaware licensed physician who is in a position to assess the individual’s qualifications. The Respiratory Care Practitioner must maintain his or her records of completion of the formal education and periodic competence certification for a period of three (3) years.
12.4 Respiratory Care Practitioners shall not administer sedative or analgesic substances in the home care environment
*Please Note: As the rest of the sections were not amended they are not being published. A complete set of the rules and regulations for the Respiratory Care Practice Advisory Council is available at: http://www.state.de.us/research/AdminCode/title24/1770 Respiratory Care Practice Advisory Council.shtml
