Respiratory Care Principles and Practice, Second Edition

Author: Dean R. Hess, Neil R. MacIntyre, Shelley C. Mishoe, William F. Galvin, Alexander B. Adams

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This book is meant to serve as a textbook for respiratory therapy (RT) students, especially for those in the United States of America preparing for their qualification exam. The authors state seasoned RTs could use this book as a refresher and update and other health professionals could use it as an insight into RT practice. This is the second edition, the first published 10 years ago.

It is a large book over 1300 pages long and broken up into five sections: Respiratory Assessment, Respiratory Therapeutics, Respiratory Diseases, Applied Sciences for Respiratory Care and, The Respiratory Care Profession. Each section has several chapters describing their respective contents. The book holds several high quality photos, illustrations, flowcharts, easy-to-read side boxes, glossaries, key points etc to supplement and help clarify the detailed text. In addition to this, a companion website is provided that includes chapter quizzes, crossword puzzles, animated flashcards, an interactive glossary and matching exercises. This online source also serves as a good way to preview this book to help the consumer decide if this is the best resource for them: http://go.jblearning.com/ respiratorycare. In addition instructors can send requests for further tools such as instructor manuals, PowerPoint presentations and test banks.

The authors’ purpose of this book is to provide a textbook for RT students preparing for their qualification exam (USA specifically). However they strive to focus on “respiratory therapy practice in the 21st century” as the RT should be considered as a technologist, physiologist and clinician. They also stress the importance of evidence based practice and devote a chapter to it. While this text would be very useful for the Canadian RT, the descriptions around policy are American e.g. funding reimbursement, government legislation (e.g.Medicare) etc. is of less interest. In addition, the Canadian RT student should be aware this text does not focus on their own specific curriculum and aspects of the Canadian Board of Respiratory Care exam (though it is likely very similar).

The authors definitely achieve their purpose. They provide awesome details for each topic found in the American RT curriculum and up-to-date for the year of 2010/2011. The disadvantage of this (and any) text is to keep up-to-date with the latest evidence. However the evidence and skills they do provide every references and topic specific chapter serves as a good starting point for the reader interested in learning more.

The focus of this text is on respiratory therapy practice; every aspect of the respiratory therapy can be found in the text. If a person wishes to learn the basic foundations of respiratory therapy or want a starting point on a RT topic, this is the optimal resource.

Based on the sections of which I am knowledgeable, the accuracy of the information is very good. In fact I received a refresher on some topics, just as the author’s purpose dictated. As mentioned previous much of the descriptions on policy are American based. The reader who wishes a perspective on the Canadian versions must seek this information themselves.

The design of the book is a text/reference format. It is meant to find a singular location and stay there i.e. not a portable pocket guide (weighs about 8 pounds). Its details owe to this but also contribute as its asset. The text is in a font easy to read and the text organized optimally.

The diagrams and photos are excellent and enhance the subject matter immensely. They provide further clarification and supplement of the details found in the pure text. It also allows the text to be broken up in order to decrease the monotony of straight words.

There are several texts available to students but this book is one of few that provide descriptions on all aspects of respiratory therapy. It also provides online supplements, a similar (and essential) method used by other texts and resources such as scientific journals. Each topic is well described though readers seeking further knowledge may need other resources to provide further details e.g. home mechanical ventilation, paediatric respiratory care, respiratory research etc. In addition the Canadian RT would need to consult Canadian resources for policies, legislations and practices.

If the reader wants further information, the references provide a starting point. The references are not exhaustive so the student/clinician does not have to feel overwhelmed when they see the list. Each reference allows for an exhaustive search if desired. The authors include a chapter on “Evidence-Based Respiratory Care” that allows the reader to develop the thinking and tools to search for further evidence-based practice.

All the authors of this book are well known in the field of respiratory therapy even in Canada. In addition to the main authors there are several contributing authors and several reviewers.

The following are specific details on each main author (as described in the book):

Dean R. Hess, PhD, RRT, FAARC, Assistant Director of Respiratory Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School, Editor-in-Chief, RESPIRATORY CARE
Neil R. MacIntyre, MD, FAARC, Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of Respiratory Care Services, Duke University Medical Center
Shelley C. Mishoe, PhD, RRT, FAARC, Associate Provost and Professor of Respiratory Therapy and Graduate Studies, Georgia Health Science University
William F. Galvin, MSEd, RRT, CPFT, AE-C, FAARC, Assistant Professor, School of Allied Health Professions, Assistant Professor, School of Allied Health Professions, Director of Respiratory Care Program, Administrative and Teaching Faculty, TIPS Program, Gwynedd- Mercy College
Alexander B. Adams, MPH, RRT, FAARC, Research Associate in Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine, Regions Hospital, Assistant Professor of Medicine,.

My first impression of this book was its sheer size. I soon came to realize its size and purpose went hand-in-hand. I appreciated the detail it provided on each RT topic. When I looked up topics I knew much about I was pleasantly surprised at learning something new.

As an educator I find this text extremely useful for the well-organized description and the photos/diagrams/illustrations. For students I advise they take a look at this book prior to see if it matches well with their curriculum, especially considering the price – usually sold new at over $100. If this text were in my library I would consult it often.

Reviewed by Mika L. Nonoyama RRT, PhD; Post-Doctoral Fellow: Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto