RC 112 - Respiratory Care Sciences

1. demonstrate an understanding of the gas behavior under changing conditions;
   1. what are the gas laws; and
   2. how to predict gas behavior under changing conditions including extreme temperature and pressure.
2. demonstrate an understanding of basic cardiopulmonary anatomy and physiology.
   1. what constitutes upper and lower airway anatomy and how each functions;
   2. what are the defense mechanisms of the lung;
   3. what are the various lung volumes;
   4. how the anatomy of the heart and vascular systems relate to their function;
   5. what key properties are characteristic of cardiac tissue;
   6. how local and central control mechanisms regulate the heart and vascular systems;
   7. how the cardiovascular system coordinates its functions under normal and abnormal conditions; and
   8. how the electrical and mechanical events of the heart relate to a normal cardiac cycle.
3. demonstrate an understanding of the mechanics of ventilation;
   1. what physiological purposes ventilation serves;
   2. what pressure gradients are responsible for gas movement and lung inflation;
   3. what forces oppose gas movement into and out of the lungs;
   4. how surface tension contributes to lung recoil;
   5. how the lung, the chest wall, and total compliance are related;
   6. what factors affect airway resistance;
   7. how various lung diseases affect the work of breathing;
   8. why ventilation is not evenly distributed throughout the lung;
   9. how the time constants affect alveolar filling and emptying;
   10. what factors affect alveolar ventilation and why they are important; and
   11. how to calculate alveolar ventilation, dead space, and the VD/VT.
4. demonstrate an understanding of gas exchange and transport;
   1. how oxygen and carbon dioxide move between the atmosphere and tissues;
   2. what determines alveolar oxygen and carbon dioxide pressures;
   3. how to compute the alveolar partial pressure of oxygen;
   4. what effect normal regional variations in ventilation and perfusion have on gas exchange;
   5. how to compute total oxygen contents for arterial blood;
   6. what causes the arteriovenous oxygen content difference to change;
   7. what factors affect oxygen loading and unloading from hemoglobin;
   8. how carbon dioxide is carried in the blood;
   9. how oxygen and carbon dioxide transport are interrelated;
   10. what factors impair oxygen delivery to the tissues and how to distinguish among them; and
   11. what factors impair carbon dioxide removal.
5. demonstrate an understanding of the regulation of breathing;
   1. where the structures regulating breathing are located;
   2. how the inspiratory and expiratory neurons in the medulla establish the basic pattern of breathing;
   3. what effect do the impulses from the pneumotaxic and apneustic centers in the pons have on the medullary centers of breathing;
   4. the effect various reflexes have on breathing;
   5. how the central and peripheral chemoreceptors differ in the way they regulate breathing;
   6. why the central chemoreceptors respond differently to respiratory and nonrespiratory acid-based conditions;
   7. how the regulation of breathing in individuals with chronic hypercapnia differs from the regulation of breathing in healthy persons;
   8. why administering oxygen to patients with chronic hypercapnia poses a special risk that is not present in healthy individuals;
   9. why ascending to a high altitude has different immediate and long-term effects of ventilation;
   10. why mechanically ventilated patients with head injuries may benefit from deliberate hyperventilation; and
   11. how to characterize abnormal breathing problems.
6. demonstrate an understanding of basic solutions, electrolytes, and acid-base balance;
   1. what the characteristics of solutions are, including concentrations of solutes;
   2. how osmotic pressure functions and what its action is in relation to cell membranes;
   3. where fluid compartments are located in the body and what their volumes are;
   4. how water loss and replacement occur;
   5. what roles are played by osmotic and hydrostatic pressure in edema;
   6. what clinical findings are associated with excess or deficiency of the seven basic electrolytes;
   7. how the lungs and kidneys regulate volatile and fixed acids;
   8. how to use the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation in hypothetical clinical situations;
   9. how the kidneys and lungs compensate for each other when the function of one is abnormal;
   10. how renal absorption and excretion of electrolytes affect acid-base balance;
   11. how to classify and interpret arterial blood and acid-base status;
   12. how to use arterial acid-base information to decide on a clinical course of action;
   13. why acute changes in the blood’s carbon dioxide level affect the blood’s bicarbonate ion concentration;
   14. how to calculate the anion gap and use it to determine the cause of metabolic acidosis; and
   15. how standard bicarbonate and base excess measurements are used to identify the non-respiratory component of acid-based imbalances.