Respiratory therapists' attitudes toward recredentialing.

Recredentialing, sometimes referred to as recertification, is the process whereby people maintain their professional credentials by retesting or continuing education. The National Board for Respiratory Care has proposed mandatory recredentialing policies for respiratory therapists who receive a professional credential after July 1, 2002. The purpose of this study was to determine respiratory therapists' attitudes toward recredentialing. The author developed a survey instrument that was mailed to a systematic random sample of 1,000 subjects drawn from the active membership of the American Association for Respiratory Care. Data analysis consisted of frequencies, percentages, and measures of central tendency. Group means were compared using the independent groups t-test, with a significance level of p < or = 0.05. Of the surveys, 562 (56.2%) were returned. Of the 15 statements about recredentialing that were rated on a 5-point Likert scale, the respondents were most in agreement with "Proof of continuing education should be sufficient for recredentialing"; "There should be a way to determine whether a respiratory therapist is competent to practice"; and "I don't want to be required to recredential." In response to the multiple-choice question "Who should be in charge of assuring the continuing competency of respiratory therapists, the most frequently selected response was "Employers of respiratory therapists." Most respiratory therapists do not want to be required to recredential. If they are required to recredential, however, they prefer the use of contining education rather than retesting.