0:09

Welcome to The Vent Room where respiratory therapists

0:12

come and get a little inspiration. I'm your host, Dr.

0:15

Tabatha Dragonberry.

0:17

All right, everybody. It's been a while

0:19

since I have been on air,

0:22

and life's been crazy.

0:24

But I saw something, and I'm like, okay,

0:27

she's motivated me to get back to it.

0:30

And today, we're going to be talking to Mindy Conklin.

0:33

She is the first official APRT,

0:37

because she is going to be working

0:41

at that higher level of practice

0:44

in the VA in Maryland.

0:46

And her boss and her are the trailblazers,

0:50

Daniel Whitt saying, hey, we're taking respiratory

0:53

care to the next level.

0:55

Mindy, tell me a little bit about your career

0:58

and how you started and now with this opportunity.

1:01

It's very exciting. I know everybody's talking about it.

1:05

Yeah, well, I started respiratory

1:07

kind of by accident. I didn't go to college

1:10

until I hit my thirties because I raised my kids.

1:13

I actually went to orientation

1:16

for nursing and when I got in there,

1:18

the guidance counselor was like, So you want to go into nursing?

1:21

I'm like, No, not really. And she was said, Well,

1:25

what about respiratory therapy? And I was like,

1:27

Oh, what is respiratory therapy? I had no idea.

1:31

And that was only, what, 15 years ago?

1:33

What a respiratory therapist was. And she explained to me

1:37

what respiratory therapist did.

1:39

And I said, Oh, that sounds awesome

1:42

because I have asthma, so let's try it.

1:44

And she was actually the director of the program

1:47

that I was going into. So I started there.

1:50

I got my associates degree in respiratory care.

1:52

Then I went on to get my bachelor's

1:54

health care management all the time, working at Ohio State,

1:59

raising three kids and going to school

2:02

within the age of 30 to 41 years old.

2:07

So it's been jam packed with all kinds

2:09

of fun and adventures. And those 15 years, you know.

2:14

That's the typical plight, right? We get our first degree

2:16

and for the most part, we're all going to be working

2:19

and living life and bouncing

2:21

and like last week or this weekend, my students

2:24

that are degree advancement students,

2:26

they graduated and the one them was like, hey, single mom of three

2:30

finally got her degree right because we're always competing

2:34

for those types of things. So currently, right here in 2023,

2:39

the Ohio State University is the only program

2:42

that has advanced practice respiratory care program.

2:47

But tell me a little bit about the program

2:50

and after graduating that

2:52

what have you been doing before we get into this

2:55

exciting opportunity that you're embarking on the program?

2:59

It's a really great program. It's five semesters, it's

3:03

almost two years. So the first part,

3:05

the first year is all didactic work.

3:07

So you have your advanced nursing classes,

3:09

your advanced nursing assessment, advanced

3:13

pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology,

3:17

and then some evidence based practice classes all in there.

3:20

Also for that first year. And then when we break off to

3:23

summer semester, that's when we started getting into advanced respiratory classes

3:27

and where clinicals actually started.

3:30

So we started in the outpatient setting,

3:33

the pulmonary clinic and the sleep clinics,

3:35

and then come that fall, we ventured into the acute care setting.

3:41

And when you're doing the clinicals, what are some of the differences

3:44

between your regular respiratory clinicals

3:47

that you had to your advanced practice?

3:50

Respiratory clinicals.

3:52

You as APRT student,

3:55

you're actually the one doing the head

3:57

to toe assessments. You're looking at all your drips,

4:01

like all the medication the patient's on,

4:03

looking at their history, looking at their labs,

4:06

trying to connect one thing together to another

4:08

so that, say the patient was on steroids

4:10

and they're diabetic and their glucose was crazy,

4:14

you know, how would you fix that? So it's just not

4:17

it wasn't just all cardiopulmonary related.

4:19

Everything else was combined. Since you're in the acute care setting.

4:22

So you're in a role like an NP or PA.

4:25

Now you're taking that respiratory specialty

4:28

expanding on it to the

4:31

we always work the whole body but really,

4:34

truly working that whole body, looking at everything.

4:37

And during clinicals, were you guys able to write prescriptions

4:42

under somebody else or how did that work?

4:44

Because I know one of the things that we always talk about

4:46

is NPS have prescription rights

4:49

is have prescription rights when they're working with that physician

4:53

for this APRT currently in the state of Ohio.

4:56

So I'm in a bubble. It currently just Ohio.

5:00

How does it work there? And then we'll transition to

5:02

talk about your new role

5:04

being that really the first APRN in the country

5:07

that's going to have advanced prescription rights.

5:10

So in clinical setting, since it was a brand new program,

5:13

we did have the authority to do the prescription.

5:16

Everything was being built in our epic

5:19

and I had system, so it was hard for us

5:22

to actually get the order in

5:25

just because everything was new. But we during clinicals

5:28

we were able to say, okay, we need to start some medical,

5:32

we need to do some level. Let's do a

5:35

Etomidate in Succs for intubation.

5:37

And then the pulmonologist that we were with would actually put it in,

5:40

but we would dose it and to tell him what we wanted.

5:44

Yeah, because I know just on social media

5:46

and just conversations, everybody's okay, what, what's the next level?

5:50

And this is the next level and it really starts as a grassroots

5:54

kind of item. Georgia and Sarah

5:56

out of the Ohio State University. I know they've done a lot of

6:01

state level work. Right. So if for the people out there

6:04

that are saying, you know, how do I get this in my state?

6:07

You need to get involved with your state

6:09

to be able to do it right

6:12

because it's not in this was like years, right?

6:15

So it's it's not a short game.

6:17

It's a long game. Long term.

6:19

It's been in the works 15, 20 years in Ohio.

6:23

I know Georgie and Sarah have been working on it for a long time.

6:26

Like I said in the AARC article,

6:28

I met George and she's the one that mentions

6:31

the MRT program to me, and I was just a student

6:34

and that kind of stuck with me. And then I just worked myself up.

6:37

I had that goal of something. That's what I wanted to do

6:40

and I was able to achieve it. So it's been really exciting

6:43

to watch the progression of respiratory

6:47

therapy grow since I started as an RT.

6:50

Yes, definitely. And I think that, you know,

6:53

with the COVID pandemic, we have a lot of negatives that occurred.

6:56

But also I think it really highlighted

6:58

the role of the respiratory therapist during all that craziness.

7:02

So now you are currently

7:05

in the process of transitioning.

7:07

You started your work, but you're doing it remotely.

7:09

So it's probably a lot of training and all of those compliance things

7:13

so that when you get there you get to hit the ground

7:15

running with that, what are some of the things

7:18

that you're excited about that you're going to be able to do as an APRT

7:23

being really the first one other than the prescription rights?

7:26

And I think it's great that it's the opportunity

7:29

to serve in our veterans.

7:31

So for our listeners, it's interesting

7:33

because the VA, the licensing

7:37

is a little different. There's a lot of leeway there

7:40

that they have outside of the VA

7:44

or military organization that they can't do.

7:46

But this is the opportunity.

7:49

I think this is a great place to say, hey, if we can get this in one VA

7:52

and there's so many across the country,

7:55

that's a start. So because many times

7:57

we look to the government in Medicare and those types of things

8:00

on what they're willing to reimburse. Yeah, it's really exciting

8:03

just knowing that I can go in as in a party,

8:07

be able to practice to the top of the scope of an APRT

8:11

in the VA system. Be able to diagnose and prescribe

8:15

and treats and follow patients

8:17

in the outpatient clinic and then in the ICU.

8:20

That's really exciting. You know, everything's still in the works

8:25

like we're working on all kinds of things since I am the first

8:28

and everything happened so fast,

8:30

but it's been very exciting to see the process.

8:33

I think I'm just excited to get in there

8:35

and show the world, the VA,

8:38

the government, what a respiratory therapist can do.

8:42

You know, we can go in and do an assessment

8:46

just like a nurse practitioner can

8:48

and maybe even do a better

8:51

the way we are trained as a respiratory therapist,

8:54

from going through the nursing classes,

8:57

we are trained very, very well

8:59

as our teeth nursing classes are just very broad

9:03

and sometimes it's hard to grasp what they're saying

9:06

because it's so broad and we are so focused.

9:09

And I think that it was easier for me

9:13

just going in with my mindset as a respiratory therapist

9:16

instead of one of the nursing students,

9:18

if that makes any sense. If that makes sense.

9:20

Yeah. I think that any time

9:22

whether you're a respiratory therapist going to

9:25

school or things like that, we've been taught for so long

9:29

to think critically and really dig in.

9:33

And when we are master of several systems

9:37

and we understand how other systems affect us, but

9:42

sometimes at a nursing school, unless they they get to specialize,

9:46

they don't have that opportunity to be like, hey,

9:48

I am an expert, at least at these systems.

9:51

Right in his hand. It's been very beneficial for me.

9:53

This working at a large academic

9:55

medical center like Ohio State,

9:58

and I was there for a long time just to pick up things that would happen

10:02

during the cold situation, intubation,

10:04

anything critical that would happen.

10:06

It was easy because we're always there. Respiratory is always a bedside.

10:10

So you pick up on things. You learn all the drugs

10:13

in ways that treat things, and then it just made it easier

10:16

to go into that clinical setting

10:18

knowing that I had such a strong critical care background.

10:22

It was just an amazing experience.

10:25

So I know a lot of people are asking and saying, you know,

10:28

what could I do to be that trailblazer?

10:32

Because I'm telling you, it's

10:35

I don't envy you, but I envy you.

10:37

Yeah. So with that,

10:40

what are some of the scary things of being the first, right?

10:43

You're really you and Daniel are going out on a limb.

10:46

And I have no doubt that it's going to be successful

10:49

because I know respiratory therapists

10:52

and how well we practice.

10:54

So what are some of the things that kind of scare you

10:56

as you go into this adventure

10:58

and it's truly an adventure?

11:01

Well, I feel like everything since 2019,

11:03

when I started the program has been an unknown.

11:06

So I think going through a program, being the first

11:09

with the unknowns and then we had the COVID, which was an unknown

11:12

during my two years in grad school.

11:15

So everything for me has been an unknown since basically 2019.

11:21

So I'm less nervous.

11:23

I'm still scared. I'm not going to lie. It's very nervous.

11:25

Everyone is watching, but it's not a bad nervous.

11:28

It's like an exciting

11:30

feeling to know that I'm the first

11:33

and I'm going to jump in and trailblazer and do the best I can

11:36

and best of my ability to represent

11:38

Ohio State respiratory therapy.

11:40

The VA to the best of my ability,

11:43

I'm very excited to work with pulmonologist

11:46

from the University of Maryland

11:48

because they cross cover the VA there

11:50

and see their perspective on cardiopulmonary patients are

11:54

and how they might differ from those pulmonologists

11:58

from Ohio State. So I'm excited to jump in and learn

12:03

other use other avenues

12:05

and have shared treat these patients. And as somebody

12:09

who's lived across the United States and overseas

12:12

practicing respiratory care,

12:15

I can tell you I feel like there's an East Coast medicine

12:17

and a West Coast medicine, even though we all go to the same schools

12:20

and learn a lot of the. Same stuff. There, there's definitely some changes.

12:24

So I think it's like having that open mind of being able to learn from others.

12:28

And I like I was telling you before, before we started,

12:31

I'm from the Maryland DC area

12:33

and I have to say it's a very it's I'm so excited

12:37

and I know that some of the doctors that you'll probably be working with

12:41

with that and I think also yeah, it's scary

12:43

but you have 150,000 plus

12:46

respiratory therapists, just us cheering you away.

12:50

And then of course, all our physician partners

12:53

that really know the value of respiratory.

12:55

So I think that with that, just whenever you're getting stressed,

12:58

just think that you know what, you have 150

13:01

plus thousand people just sitting there cheering

13:04

you on. So much support.

13:06

Even during the program,

13:09

all of the pulmonologist, nurses in there,

13:12

were they at first they were like, okay, what is

13:15

what is your role going to be?

13:17

You know, and you explain it. And the more they seen us

13:19

roll out in the clinical setting, the more we talked about it at work,

13:22

the more classes that have gone through,

13:24

they see the value of an advanced

13:27

respiratory therapist, how we can bring a new a new bedside.

13:34

I don't even know what I want to use. There's a book that I've read called

13:38

The Range. It's written by an author called David Epstein.

13:41

And The Way It and I think this describes

13:44

what you're wanting to say in a room.

13:46

You put respiratory therapist together, you get one angle.

13:49

If you put all the nurses together, you're going to get another angle.

13:51

If you put all the doctors together, you're going to get another angle.

13:54

But now when you do those rounds and you add that APRT

13:58

they're getting a fresh perspective

14:01

that, you know, we can help challenge.

14:04

And that's what we as respiratory therapist

14:06

have been doing for a long time. But now you have this advanced practice.

14:11

You're at the same level

14:14

and you're able to provide that healthy challenge of, hey,

14:17

let's think about it this way.

14:19

And also let them healthy challenge and work together to find out what's best

14:24

for that particular patient when they're being challenged.

14:28

Right. I mean, who knows? Who knows the respiratory system

14:31

better than a respiratory therapist? So I'm looking forward to trailblazing us

14:35

at the bedside in the acute care setting

14:38

and in the outpatient world, which most there's a lot of.

14:41

But we've never really been in the outpatient world as RT's

14:44

unless you're doing like pulmonary function test

14:46

or that kind of thing. So I'm really excited.

14:51

Sounds good. Well, I appreciate your time today.

14:55

Any last parting words for anybody

14:59

who wants to be in your seat

15:01

in the next 3 to 5 years?

15:04

Oh, man, make a goal for yourself.

15:07

You know, if there's something that you want to do,

15:09

push like in your area, just push our leaders

15:13

in respiratory therapy, whether it's your respiratory society

15:15

for your state legislators in your state,

15:19

you know, give them, hey, we have this program

15:22

and we want to get it started at

15:26

Texas or Indiana or Maryland.

15:29

So if they want to have an APRT program,

15:32

we all have to work together in order for this to work

15:35

and for us to grow as a profession in respiratory therapy.

15:39

So get all those lawmakers,

15:41

you know, work as a team and then once you set your goal

15:44

that you want to go and whether you come here to Ohio

15:47

State and go into their MRT program

15:50

or you go elsewhere, it's not easy.

15:52

It's very time consuming. I was in the hospital

15:55

setting seven days a week, but it was worth it.

15:58

So if you're dedicated and motivated

16:00

and excited, excited about respiratory therapy

16:04

and the advancement, then jump on the bandwagon and let's go

16:08

with that. Speaking of being

16:10

of being in the hospital seven days a week, was it a combination of school

16:15

and clinical? Seven days a week and were you able to still work

16:18

while in that program?

16:20

Oh, yes. So I started out I'm full time.

16:23

I had to be full time because I have kids.

16:25

So I had one in college and two in high school.

16:28

So I had family, so I had to work full time.

16:30

And then of course, I was you has tuition reimbursement,

16:33

so you have to be a full time employee in

16:36

order to take advantage of that.

16:38

So I did I worked my 40 hours a week

16:42

and then when it came clinical time,

16:44

I went to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

16:47

So Monday through Thursday

16:49

was clinicals and class. And then I worked 12 hour

16:52

shifts Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then started it all over Monday for

16:56

a year and a half. So it's doable.

17:00

It was a lot, especially during COVID,

17:02

but we did it. Our first class did it,

17:04

and we survived the 100 clinical hours

17:08

and 40 hours a week work for

17:12

almost five semesters.

17:14

And I think that just shows the dedication

17:16

to where you set a goal for yourself

17:19

and you were like, You know what, screw COVID.

17:22

I know I have to pay the bills.

17:24

You know, you just get it done. And I think that

17:28

that's the trailblazer in you, right?

17:30

Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes you have to buck up, buttercup,

17:32

put your head down, move forward

17:35

and reach your goals. Because

17:39

if it's not you, there's somebody else that will do it.

17:42

So I think that I'm looking forward to maybe talking with you again

17:46

in a year. Mm hmm. And tell us about your experience.

17:50

And you are definitely

17:52

I'm hoping that someone listens to this and says, hey,

17:54

you know what, I'm setting my goal. And whatever your goals are, like,

17:57

whether your goal is to be an educator

17:59

or to be at the next state party or

18:02

be director in a hospital or whatever

18:06

it is, you know, just set those goals

18:09

and work towards them. And that's the most important thing

18:12

because that's what keeps us going.

18:14

I know I'm very goal motivated.

18:16

I'm always working on something.

18:19

Yeah, I like to set I like to set goals

18:21

and then achieve them and I yeah, that's me.

18:25

When this position came about, I was like, That's mine, got to do this.

18:29

It's for me. So I worked hard.

18:34

What was it? Do you know how many people interviewed

18:36

for that position? I'm not sure right offhand.

18:40

So I did. It. Yeah. So

18:44

but you know, the great thing about being in class

18:47

is you get all that camaraderie and partnership, right?

18:51

But at the same time, you're looking right next door

18:53

and you're like, you're my competition.

18:56

It's so funny because we all digitally,

18:58

especially my class with they call us The Magnificent Seven

19:01

that we all thought 100% that when we started to practice,

19:06

we would all start together because everything is already laid out.

19:09

And Ohio State's, you know, the job

19:12

description, the career pathway,

19:14

the salary, etc., we're

19:17

just waiting on that critical piece, which is that legislation

19:20

which is currently in House to pass to say

19:22

we have the right to prescribe. That's all we're waiting on.

19:25

Everything there is already laid out. But when this came about

19:29

largely from the VA, I knew from the minute you know,

19:33

that we received an email, that position was mine

19:37

because it offered the acute care

19:40

and then the clinic, the clinics that I wanted,

19:42

because I've said that from the beginning, I think it would be very good

19:45

to have a good mixture between the ICU and the pulmonary

19:50

clinic or pulmonary hypertension or

19:52

the sleep clinics. Now it's like it's

19:57

you know, that's the camaraderie, but that's the competition and, you know,

20:02

you got to work for it. I think it's wonderful.

20:04

I'm super excited. Like I said, I'd like us to revisit in a year

20:07

and just learn about it. Hopefully you have

20:09

some friends that can join us

20:12

because I know that you're the trailblazer, but they're looking to add a couple more

20:16

more advanced practice, respiratory care

20:19

practitioners, who knows, maybe some other people

20:21

from the Magnificent Seven show up.

20:24

But I think I'm. Trying I'm trying to persuade very hard.

20:28

Well, and I think this what you know, many times

20:32

I talk to people and this is where the difference is,

20:35

is this a job or is this a profession?

20:38

Right? Is this your job or is this your profession?

20:40

And you are picking up your life,

20:43

moving with your family

20:45

to a new city to follow a profession.

20:49

Right. And to me, that's that's it.

20:53

And I know I understand not everybody can just pick up and move,

20:56

but but sometimes that's the thing

21:00

that the opportunity strikes

21:02

and you have to follow it. I've I've moved

21:06

God I don't even want to know. I've lived in New York City,

21:08

I've lived in Illinois, I've lived in California,

21:10

Doha, Qatar, Florida.

21:13

I've always followed

21:15

my profession in different areas.

21:18

So like, for me, it's just something that I'm like, okay,

21:21

you know, I don't plan to leave Texas

21:24

any time soon. But I'm. Like,

21:27

If, if, if the right the if the iron strikes hot somewhere,

21:31

you sometimes you just have to to be like, okay, this is

21:34

this is my profession. I was like, Maryland, I've never been to

21:37

Maryland, ever. So my first visit was back in March.

21:40

And I had this big thought that Baltimore

21:43

would be this huge, enormous place, right?

21:47

Like downtown would just be enormous.

21:49

So I was very nervous. I was very nervous.

21:52

I was like, what am I getting myself into?

21:54

And then when we drove into town,

21:56

I was like, Oh, this isn't as big as

21:59

I thought it was going to be. Columbus is definitely bigger

22:03

as of the downtown area.

22:05

It's just Baltimore is just order.

22:08

It has an older vibe to it. But everyone at the VA

22:11

in the University of Maryland made me feel very welcome.

22:14

And when I was going walking through the VA and visiting

22:18

like the ICU was in different areas, everyone was very welcoming

22:22

and it made me feel like home. And that's when I knew that

22:25

that's where I should be. So it's when you have that

22:29

support and excitement in the feeling of home.

22:33

And I was like, okay, this, this is definitely for me.

22:37

I'm going to say the Maryland, Virginia, D.C.

22:41

area is still my favorite place I've lived.

22:46

You're going to a really great area

22:48

and a great like the Maryland State

22:50

Society people, Lenny, all those guys, they're really wonderful.

22:54

I'm sure that they're so excited to have you come in.

22:57

And the same thing with the DC, Maryland together in the Virginia group

23:01

there, there's a lot of great

23:03

respiratory care leaders that you will get exposed to.

23:06

And I think that that's the other thing. It's just meeting new people

23:09

and getting exposed to new people and.

23:12

And and just living life.

23:14

Yeah, yeah. It's coming from a small town in Ohio,

23:17

going to Maryland and Baltimore is like,

23:19

well, it's a big jump, but my family's been really supportive

23:23

in my my it was my family had, you know,

23:26

my last day was last week and they were super supportive.

23:29

I cried a lot because, you know, that was my career as a father.

23:34

But they're. My family. It was a good departure.

23:36

I say I still want to cry.

23:38

Yeah. I get it. I mean.

23:41

It's good to hear if it's not sad. Tears.

23:43

Yeah, it's. It's happy tears.

23:45

And when you know what, all you're doing is making them

23:49

proud, right? Right. Just, you know, it's.

23:52

This is what Ohio's been working for.

23:56

Unfortunately, they're not the first.

24:00

Right? Yeah. But you know what?

24:02

They've been the biggest cheerleader about it. You know, they cheered Danielle on.

24:06

They cheered Neon. You know, George and Sarah

24:08

have a lot invested. And this is a great opportunity

24:11

to some place to start as an eight party

24:15

and have full, full scope of practice,

24:18

including prescription authority inside the VA.

24:21

So we got to start somewhere

24:23

and that somewhere is the VA and my hope is that this will only help

24:28

Ohio with legislation passing

24:31

hopefully within the next year or so. But it also helps, like North Carolina

24:35

and get other approaches throughout the VA system

24:38

across the country would be another huge goal.

24:41

I'm going to go in there with with a smile

24:43

and put my best face forward and make everyone proud

24:47

because this is just not for me.

24:49

It's for every respiratory therapist who's ever dreamed

24:52

about being in the T.

24:54

Yeah, I'm. I'm. I want to cry for you.

24:57

I am so tearful. It's

25:00

I want to cry for you. And it just. It's it's a long time coming, and it's

25:07

and I'm going to say it. It's about damn time.

25:09

Yeah, I it's funny because I'm like,

25:12

I know I'm alive as of 2023.

25:14

I know I'm alive, I've known I'm alive.

25:17

But I literally had every single emotion

25:20

in the first five months of the year

25:23

and oh, it's been a rollercoaster,

25:26

but it's been a good one.

25:28

Well, you know what? That's

25:30

that's the you never know what life's going to throw at. You.

25:33

So this is an amazing one. And between I can understand

25:36

as somebody who's moved, changed careers,

25:38

move careers, you go through so much

25:42

and everybody's rooting for you.

25:45

And I have no doubt

25:48

that you are going to do every respiratory therapist

25:52

proud in this role.

25:55

Yeah. Thank you. All right, guys,

25:57

we're going to call that it

26:00

if you're interested in learning more.

26:02

The Ohio State University is currently

26:04

the only eight pro program in the country.

26:07

Take a look at if you're looking,

26:09

take a look at them. George and Sarah are amazing.

26:14

And if you have any questions, send

26:16

me an email and I will.

26:19

I'll see what I can do and answer your questions just on the career and stuff,

26:22

because I know I've done all kinds of different things, but I'm super excited to see some of see

26:27

you do this and do it for