2006 Nebraska Revised Statutes - § 71-1,227 — Terms, defined.

Section 71-1,227
Terms, defined.

As used in sections 71-1,227 to 71-1,236, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Board shall mean the Board of Respiratory Care Practice;

(2) Medical director shall mean a licensed physician who has the qualifications as described in section 71-1,229;

(3) Respiratory care shall mean the health specialty responsible for the treatment, management, diagnostic testing, control, and care of patients with deficiencies and abnormalities associated with the cardiopulmonary system. Respiratory care shall not be limited to a hospital setting and shall include the therapeutic and diagnostic use of medical gases, administering apparatus, humidification and aerosols, ventilatory assistance and ventilatory control, postural drainage, chest physiotherapy and breathing exercises, respiratory rehabilitation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and maintenance of nasal or oral endotracheal tubes. It shall also include the administration of aerosol and inhalant medications to the cardiorespiratory system and specific testing techniques employed in respiratory care to assist in diagnosis, monitoring, treatment, and research. Such techniques shall include, but not be limited to, measurement of ventilatory volumes, pressures, and flows, measurement of physiologic partial pressures, pulmonary function testing, and hemodynamic and other related physiological monitoring of the cardiopulmonary system; and

(4) Respiratory care practitioner shall mean:

(a) Any person employed in the practice of respiratory care who has the knowledge and skill necessary to administer respiratory care to patients of all ages with varied cardiopulmonary diseases and to patients in need of critical care and who is capable of serving as a resource to the physician and other health professionals in relation to the technical aspects of respiratory care including effective and safe methods for administering respiratory care; and

(b) A person capable of supervising, directing, or teaching less skilled personnel in the provision of respiratory care services.

Source:

Laws 1986, LB 277, § 9

Laws 1999, LB 828, § 138

Laws 2003, LB 242, § 61

~Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska