Contents : includes bibliograhical refernces and index

Contents : Foundations of respiratory care -- History of respiratory care -- Delivering evidence - based respiratory care -- Quality, patient safety, communication, and recordkeeping -- Principles of infection prevention and control -- Ethical and legal implications of Practice -- E-medicine in respiratory care -- fundamentals of respiratory care research -- Applied anatomy and physiology -- The respiratory system -- The cardiovascular system -- Ventilation -- Gas exchange and transport -- Solutions, body fluids, and electrolytes -- Acid-base balance -- Regulation of breathing -- Assessment of respiratory disorders -- Bedside assessment of the patient -- Interpreting clinical and laboratory data -- Interpreting the electrocardiogram -- Analysis and monitoring of gas exchange -- Pulmonary function testing -- Review of thoracic imaging -- Flexible bronchoscopy and the respiratory therapist -- Nutrition assessment -- Review of cardiopulmonary disease -- Pulmonary infections -- Obstructive lung disease:chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and related disease -- Interstitial lung disease -- Pleural disease -- Pulmonary vascular disease -- Acute respiratory distress syndrome -- Respiratory management of trauma, obesity, near drowning, and burns -- Lung cancer -- Neuromuscular and other disease of the chest wall -- Disorders of sleep -- Neonatal and pediatric respiratory disorders -- Basic therapeutics -- Airway pharmacology -- Airway management -- Emergency cardiovascular life support -- Humidity and bland aerosol therapy -- Aerosol drug therapy -- Storage and delivery of medical gases -- Medical gases -- Lung expansion therapy -- Airway clearance therapy -- Acute and critical care -- Respiratory failure and the need for ventilatory support -- Mechanical ventilators -- Physiology of ventilatory support -- Patient-ventilator interactions -- Initiating and adjusting invasive ventilatory support -- Noninvasive ventilation -- Extracorporeal life support -- Monitoring the patient in the intensive care unit -- Discontinuing ventilatory support -- Neonatal and pediatric respiratory care -- Patient education and long-term care -- Patient education and health promotion -- Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation -- Respiratory care in alternative settings --