Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Nov 1, 2009, 11:41 pm
As RT students, we are always taught how important it is to maintain a patent airway. We are taught from the beginning of school how to treat shortness of breath, airway obstructions, hypoxemia, and r...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Oct 25, 2009, 1:41 am
Keeping in mind that Respiratory Care week is just around the corner (Oct. 26th-31st), I came across an excellent post by a blog I've been following for a while. When you get a second, head over ...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Oct 22, 2009, 3:11 pm
(credit to KeepBreathing for the pic) It's that time of year again. Everyone and their friend and brother is catching pneumonia, bronchitis, or even...H1N1. Which means, for some reason which is ...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Oct 18, 2009, 11:42 am
My first day in the OR practicing intubations was something I had been looking forward to for a long time. The day was going well. I had seen several cases and successfully intubated four people. It w...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Oct 6, 2009, 8:40 am
...but it's important to remember that we're all just human. We're all in this for the same reasons. Epijunky has always reminded us of that, but her latest post really struck a nerve. G...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Oct 5, 2009, 5:21 pm
School is stressful. School is hard. If it wasn't worth doing, it would be easy. We all know this. We remind ourselves of this every day. So what do you do when you reach your breaking point? What...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 23, 2009, 3:12 pm
This was given to me this afternoon by one of my clinical instructors. Seeing as how he has been an RT almost 40 years and is one of the smartest people I know, I figured it was worth sharing. Here ar...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 22, 2009, 2:47 pm
Dear ICU nurse, You're right about one thing-- I am a student. You're wrong about the other-- this doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to the respirator...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 15, 2009, 10:29 am
The thing I love about respiratory therapy is that I'm always learning new things. A lot of these things are learned in the classroom, but a lot of them are things they just can't teach you in...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 15, 2009, 10:20 am
A couple of recent editions to the Blogroll-- Medic 7 For those of you that don't know Medic 7, he is actually a lot like my good friend Epijunky. M7 shares a passion for what he does that rivals...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 13, 2009, 1:12 pm
It took me way longer to write this post than it should have, but sometimes you just can't find the right words. I love a good heart-warming story. A good, true heart-warming story. Somewhere ou...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 11, 2009, 10:19 am
Look at this thing. Pretty intimidating, right? When it finally reached the point that we started covering ventilators in RT school, I was a mix of emotions. Excited, nervous, intimidated, and confid...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 10, 2009, 11:28 am
My friends, and humble readers, I'm having a problem. What do you do when the ER goes from this... ...to this? What do you do at the end of your shift, after you've spent the day doing noth...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 9, 2009, 7:57 pm
You may think this isn't relevant to what we do for a living. I don't care. This video is so real, and so tragic, that it holds a place in my heart. H/T Epijunky for putting this up on her bl...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 8, 2009, 7:23 pm
One classmate to another this afternoon during Mechanical Ventilation class, "Umm. I'm so tired and so lost. What is he talking about now?" "I don't know, I'm sure it has something to do...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 5, 2009, 11:27 pm
Stacks of blue charts lined my desk. A vast amount of paperwork was scattered in every direction, joined by a few ink pens, highlighters, and a pencil. The phone was ringing constantly, in competition...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Sep 4, 2009, 11:54 am
At the end of the first year of RT school, I remember several things: Some of these things, very basic, but very important: -Never withold oxygen from a patient who needs it -Bronchodilators are in...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Aug 28, 2009, 10:51 am
As I've called myself a trauma junkie from time to time, many of you have probably wondered why I chose Respiratory Therapy as opposed to Paramedicine. The answer? I honestly don't know. Noth...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Aug 8, 2009, 9:39 am
Yes, it's that bad. I'm bored, was going through a serious spell of blogger's block, combined with a ton of drama lately that has kept me from blogging. So, without further adeu, a meme-- ...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Jul 4, 2009, 6:00 am
In lieu of actual content about ventilators and whatever else I'm learning about right now, I present to you the winner of the CSRT's video contest. Gave him some oxygen, put the breathing tu...
Comment - Like

Trauma Junkie posted an article on Surviving Respiratory Therapy School: Tales of a Trauma Junkie - Jul 3, 2009, 6:13 pm
So here's the deal... I've decided that after five years at one hospital as a CNA, it is time for me to try somewhere new. There are several reasons for this, but the biggest being: 1. Pay. ...
Comment - Like