Impact of Offering CRCEs on Attendance to a Respiratory Care Journal Club Harborview Medical Center Seattle, Washington Carl R Hinkson BS RRT, Nirpalinder Kaur MA RRT, Michael W. Sipes † BS RRT, David J Pierson MD FAARC Journal clubs are groups of clinicians who meet regularly to critically evaluate scientific literature and are used by physicians and other health professions to stay abreast of current research and evidenced based practice. Journal clubs are often used to teach principles of critical appraisal of research. In 2005, we implemented a departmental journal club, open to the community which met every six weeks. Attendance to the journal club has always been a challenge We are always considering methods for improving attendance to the journal club. Washington state requires 30 continuing education credits every two years for re- licensure; 10 of the 30 credits are required to be AARC continuing Respiratory Care Education credits. We hypothesized that offering AARC CRCE credits for every journal club meeting would improve attendance. Introduction Methods To test this hypothesis we used a pre-test/ post-test study design. No changes were made during the pre-CRCE period and two (2) AARC CRCE credits were offered per journal club meeting in the post-CRCE period. Approval for CRCE credits were obtained using a traditional CRCE application form for a “series” of three meetings. Articles were pre-selected and learning objectives and a post-test were created for each meeting. Pre-CRCE period occurred for six meetings from 12/06/06 through 7/23/07 and post-CRCE period occurred for six meetings from 9/17/07 through 4/21/08. Meetings were held at the same times at staff members’ homes on Mondays for both pre and post periods, and attendance was taken by the journal club coordinator. Advertisement for the journal club were kept the same for both pre and post periods via , flyers and internet postings. Attendance data is presented as mean ± standard deviation and analyzed by using a right-tailed student’s t-test. Conclusion Offering CRCE credits for qualifying department education activities such as a journal club can increase staff participation Abstract Background: Journal clubs (JC) have been used extensively by physician groups and the nursing profession as a forum for learning and staying abreast of current research. The Respiratory Care department at Harborview Medical Center implemented a journal club in early 2005 for these purposes. Attendance was open to any respiratory therapists in the community who wanted to attend. Information about the JC was available on the state society website and departmental website. Articles and presenters were selected by JC coordinator and articles were made available beforehand. During the meeting articles were summarized by the presenter and then discussed with the group. Unfortunately, attendance has generally been poor despite multiple changes in venue, date, and time. The state of Washington requires respiratory therapists to obtain 30 continuing education credits every two years to maintain a current license; 10 of those credits must be AARCs Continuing Respiratory Care Education credits (CRCE). We tested the hypothesis that offering 2 CRCEs for every JC meeting would increase attendance. Methods: To test this hypothesis the JC meetings were held on Mondays at the same times at staff members homes for the pre and post periods. Advertising for the JC was the same for both pre-CRCE and post-CRCE via , flyers, and internet posting. Attendance was taken at each meeting by the journal club coordinator. The pre- CRCE period occurred from 12/6/06 through 7/23/07 and the post CRCE period occurred from 9/17/07 through 4/21/08. Attendance for the pre-CRCE and post-CRCE is presented as range (mean ± standard deviation) and was analyzed using a right-tailed student’s t- test; a p value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Journal Club attendance improved after 2 CRCEs were offered for attending each session. Pre-CRCE attendance ranged from 5-8 people per meeting (5.67 ± 1.21) and post-CRCE attendance ranged from 7-10 persons/meeting (7.80 ± 1.17, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Offering CRCE credits for qualifying departmental educational activities such as a journal club can increase staff participation. †- Deceased Pre-test CRCE period attendance ranged from 5-8 people per meeting mean 5.67 ± 1.21 Post-test CRCE period attendance ranged from 7-10 people per meeting mean 7.80 ± 1.17, The increase in attendance was statistically significant p< 0.01 Results