Strategies to Get the Most Out of Your CEUs

Continuing education units (CEUs) are part of the life of a respiratory therapist every day. CEUs allow clinicians to stay current with patient care and best practices, assist in continuing licensure and then, support career growth. Meanwhile, many professionals gradually start treating CEUs as a formality that must be performed in order to get to a point where the deadline looms.

This is normal but I can understand, particularly for respiratory therapists who are already juggling long shifts, a shortage of staff and even their own needs outside of work, in addition to patient needs. But review and education is much more effective when done as a strategic rather than license requirement.

The best CEU experiences can’t just be tooled out as a compliance box. They assist respiratory therapists in honing their clinical judgment and boost their confidence, keep them up to date on evolving trends in healthcare, and enhance the skills needed to make work easier and more effective.

Focus on Topics That Actually Improve Daily Practice

The best way to get the most from CEUs is to focus on those which are relevant to what you do (and don’t do!) in your clinic. During busy times it’s easy to take the quickest and easiest course, especially. But when it comes to continuing education, it’s tough to enjoy it when it isn’t tackling issues that you face in your job regularly.

This could encompass any of the following for the respiratory therapist: ventilator management/ ventilation, advanced respiratory disease such as ARDS, neonatal respiratory care, pulmonary rehabilitation, noninvasive ventilation, airway management, sleep medicine and emerging respiratory technologies. It is clear that courses that are more relevant to your patient population can be very beneficial, as you can immediately apply this in walks with your patients. This can also foster more in-depth expertise yet not just add disconnected credits over the years.

Use CEUs to Strengthen Weak Areas

It is important to take continuing education courses in the areas of personal strength that seem to be lacking. All RT’s have some things they are more focused on than others. CEUs offer a chance to reinforce those areas that need more work in a less Germ-bitted environment before you enter into those tough real world scenarios.

Some therapists might want to become more proficient in A.B.G., ventilator alarm troubleshooting, advanced concepts of pulmonary disease or deal with pediatric emergencies better, for instance. If viewed as a way to professional growth, rather than just fulfilling only a compliance requirement, CEUs can provide much longer-lasting benefits.

Avoid Leaving Everything Until the Last Minute

It’s no wonder so many health care professionals don’t care about keeping their education up to date. With lengthy shifts and busy workloads, it’s easy to “forget” to attend CEUs until renewal dates are quickly approaching. Sadly, when someone has to take a lot of courses, it is less likely that they will retain the information and the value of the education will diminish.

Sequenced instead of last-minute spaced admin of CE is much more effective. Gradual courses give more time to absorb the material; to consider both ideas and understandings; and to apply ideas in the work place in more practical ways. It can also save you from the overload and turmoil of having to do all the work under a tight deadline.

Choose Quality Over Speed Whenever Possible

All continuing education courses are not equal. Courses are sometimes very interesting, related to clinical practice and delivered by Professors with broad experience in the field of Respiratory Care who truly understand what happens in the working world of Respics. Others feel patchy, non-realistic or created only for the sake of data collection; as fast as possible.

As far as possible, quality should be top of mind over convenience. Courses incorporating case studies from the real world, new clinical guidelines, practical examples or interactive learning will often yield much better learning experience. Respiratory therapists are more likely to remember information if they can relate it to situations that they may encounter in their patient care practice.

Pay Attention to Emerging Trends in Respiratory Care

Respiratory therapy is an ever-changing profession that is influenced by the overall changing environment in health care. The use of ventilator technology, the advancement of strategies for pulmonary diagnostics, the development of telemedicine care, the diagnosis of sleep disorders, new strategies in respiratory pharmacology, and critical care procedures have all further influenced the field today.

With the COVID pandemic, the rapid change in respiratory care protocols and technologies during major healthcare events was on display, too. Continuing education programs allow a respiratory therapist to keep up with these changes – not just by reverting to an older model of training or employee practices – but by sustaining them. As practitioners keep up to date with the latest best practices, they may find they are more flexible and comfortable in their practice over time.

Use CEUs to Explore Career Growth Opportunities

It is also possible that continuing education will provide one way to continuous professional development. Some go on to be interested in some specialty aspects of respiratory therapy including neonatal intensive care, pulmonary function testing, transport therapy, sleep medicine, education, leadership and case management. A relatively low-risk opportunity to investigate new careers areas before entering big career changes or certifications is the CEU.

Through the use of targeted continuing education, over time, a therapist may be able to discover new career paths in their career that they had not thought of. It is not uncommon for respiratory therapists to find areas of interest they become involved in during continuing education on the job.

Professional Growth Happens Iteratively

A key factor to keep in mind is that continuing education doesn’t make overnight change to clinical practice. The majority of professional development is incremental rather than dramatic, and is developed by repeated exposure, experience over time, and improvements, in small increments.

A course may draw people in a little more towards understanding ventilator a little. Another may help to communicate with patients. Yet another may bolster emergency response assurance. These extra gains will accumulate over the span of the respiratory therapist’s career with continued investment.

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