Staff training and computers in respiratory care.

The respiratory therapists' (RTs') knowledge base is among a hospital's greatest assets. RTs routinely use advanced medical technologies and must understand the patient's physiology, anatomy, and condition to deliver safe and effective treatment with those technologies, especially within critical care environments. Also RTs often must educate patients and patients' families, which requires thorough understanding of the operation of medical equipment. RT education must include both tacit and explicit knowledge, so RT education can be complex, which may present challenges to clinical educators. RTs must have continuing education, and computer-based education can help meet education challenges, promote safe and effective patient care, improve patient outcomes, and improve employee satisfaction, which may improve RT recruitment and retention, while decreasing the cost of staff training. However, since computer-based education is relatively new to health care, RT educators should learn from other industries that have extensive experience with computer-based staff education.