Clinical Practice Guidelines For Respiratory Care Essay

Clinical practice guidelines and evidence based medicine have become an integral part of respiratory care. With these policies in place, respiratory therapists are given clear, defined boundaries put in place by physicians, medical staff and hospitals to allow for flexibility in the assessment and treatment of their patients. Not only has this allowed for more freedom within their profession, it has also granted therapists the authority to collect clinical information regarding the respiratory status of their patients, assess those patients and determine the best possible treatment options. They are now able to decipher whether to increase, decrease, or discontinue treatments at their own discretion without question. The use of clinical practice guidelines and evidence based medicine is one of the most significant movements to impact healthcare in the late twentieth century. This has affected healthcare as a whole, but especially respiratory therapy. Clinical practice guidelines provide the most current scientific evidence that justifies the administration of specific treatment modalities. These guidelines are issued by third party organizations that define roles
Evidence based medicine allows for a combination of thorough review and critical appraisal of the most relevant information to answer clinical questions. This practice tries to specify the way decisions are made to eliminate excessively risky or unsound practices in favor of those with better results. In evidence based medicine, many methods are used to encourage and occasionally force healthcare professionals to make more informative decisions with the information that is being presented. When this practice is implemented, professionals are encouraged to find the most appropriate information to make an appropriate decision regarding patient