Greetings, Fellow Nevada Respiratory Care
Practitioners!
This is a semi-annual publication of the NSRC
Times. Our goal is to improve communication
among RCPs in the state, and keep you informed
of the activities of the Nevada Society for
Respiratory Care (NSRC). As active members in
good standing with the AARC and currently work in
the State of Nevada, you are automatically
members of the Nevada chapter. If you have
moved to Nevada from another state, you must
inform the AARC of your move to be placed on the
Nevada Society for Respiratory Care membership
roster.
First, let me introduce current Board of Directors
for the NSRC. Your elected officers are as follows:
2011-2012 NSRC Officers
President - Bonnie Weaver
President-Elect - Connie Small
Secretary-Treasurer - Mark Howard
Vice-President - Sandy Ollivier
Director at Large - Cecilia Degenhart
Director at Large - Vicki Smith
Director at Large - Karen Shaw
Director at Large - Dan Bloedorn
Delegate - John Steinmetz
Delegate - Dan Small
Respiratory Care Week
As we are all aware, Respiratory Care Week is
every October. That is generally a time when
departments and bosses do special things for our
practitioners. It should also be a time to promote
the respiratory care profession and respiratory
health, increase awareness of lung health issues,
and encourage those seeking education in the field
of respiratory care.
The Nevada Society for Respiratory Care is
attempting to put together a fun-filled evening
during Respiratory Care Week to show our
appreciation to all Respiratory Therapists.
The next issue of this newsletter will hopefully have
many stories to share on how Nevada RCPs
celebrated their RC Week. If you would like your
story included, please contact one of the Board
Members.
Upcoming Activities
PACT
The Political Advocacy Contact Team (PACT) will
descend on Washington, DC for three days the
first week of March. The NSRC will be sending
Sandy Ollivier of Reno and Denise Warrick of the
Las Vegas area on this annual trek to meet with
Representatives, Senators, and their aides. The
purpose of their mission is to advocate for
legislative issues concerning our respiratory
patients and our profession.
For more information, please contact either:
Sandy Ollivier in Reno (775) 233-7936
Denise Warrick in Las Vegas (702) 382-4940
Each of us, as respiratory therapists, has the
power to influence our legislators. We need to
write or email our representatives urging them to
support these bills. The AARC makes this easy to
do. Simply go the the website, www.aarc.org, or
click below to go to the “AARC Advocacy page.
Just type in your zip code and it brings up each of
your legislators. You can email them with already
typed text, or you can type your own message for
any or all of the legislative issues listed above. It
will only take a few minutes, but can make a world
of difference.
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Sputum Bowl
We all know what the Sputum Bowl is. Some of us
have even participated in one at some point in our
careers. There has been a lot of discussion on the
national level of discontinuing the Sputum Bowl
after this year at the International Respiratory
Convention. This year Pima Medical Students won
the Nevada Society for Respiratory Care Sputum
Bowl Student competition held at the Orleans Hotel
and Casino on August 22, 2011, and will be
representing Nevada at The 57th International
Respiratory Convention & Exhibition • November 5–
8, Saturday–Tuesday, Tampa, Florida. It's good to
have a team representing our state at what may be
the last time the Sputum Bowl as we know it now
will be held. We wish them luck.
House of Delegates
Delegate John Steinmetz attended the House of
Delegates 2011 Summer Forum held in Vail CO this
past July. The AARC’s House of Delegates meets
twice a year, before the annual Summer Forum and
also before the annual International Congress
Meeting in the fall.
Both John Steinmetz and Dan Small will be
attending the House of Delegate meeting in
November in Tampa.
The delegates have a full agenda discussing
resolutions that will be amended, passed,
withdrawn, or defeated. Once passed, these
resolutions are forwarded to the appropriate
committee for further action.
NSRC Elections - Be A Part of It!
Be watching for nomination forms next spring via
the regular mail and/or email. Every April we send
out requests for nominations for our annual
elections. If you know an AARC member in Nevada
who is interested in serving the profession, please
nominate them. It will require a time commitment of
monthly meetings and perhaps time for some
special projects during the year, but it is a great
experience. All positions are one year terms except
the directors-at-large serve two years, and the
delegates serve four years. Come to a meeting and
check it out! We are currently working on changing
the NSRC Bylaws to increase the term lengths of
President and Secretary-Treasurer to two years to
bring our society into continuity with term lengths
of the AARC.
Welcome, Students
Nevada has seen the addition of two more schools
with Respiratory Therapy programs. Pima Medical
Institute started their program about two years
ago. Apollo College started their first class last July.
The College of Southern Nevada has been around
for many years and continues to produce high
quality students. All of these schools are in the Las
Vegas metropolitan area.
We, as the experienced RTs, need to welcome
these students with open arms. We must
remember that we are their mentors whether we
choose to be or not. We must embrace them and
lead by example. Remember also that they are the
future.
******NV Respiratory License Info******
The Board of Medical Examiners can be contacted
by phone at 775-688-2559 or 888-890-8210; or
their website is www.medboard.nv.gov. Your RCP
licenses are due for renewal in June 0f 2013. Watch
for continuing education opportunities through the
NSRC in the upcoming months.
Contact Information
The next publication of the NSRC Times will be in
2012. Please submit anything of interest that you
would like to share with the RCP community. Our
mailing address is:
NSRC
PO Box 28686
Las Vegas, NV 89126
Or, email Connie Small at:
conkerdoodle@hotmail.com
The NSRC website in a work-in-progress. Our
website address is www.nsrc.us Also, we would
like your email addresses to keep you informed of
all the latest happenings around the state. Email
Bonnie Weaver at: bon_weaver@yahoo.com with
your current information.
Contact us
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