Respiratory Therapist Career Information

Job Description

A respiratory therapist (RT) treats people who have breathing or cardiopulmonary problems. They treat patients who are premature infants and whose lungs are underdeveloped and children and adults who have lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, asthma and COPD. After interviewing and examining a patient, and upon consultation with a physician, he or she will develop a treatment plan. This plan may include removing mucus from a patient's lungs or inserting a ventilation tube into the patient's windpipe and connecting it to a machine that delivers oxygen. A respiratory therapist also delivers emergency care to heart attack and drowning victims or to people in shock. Some RTs work in home care. In this capacity, one sets up ventilators and other life support equipment and instructs caretakers in their use. Many therapists can still expect to work in the hospital setting. However, opportunities outside the hospital will continue to grow in respiratory therapy clinics, diagnostic clinics, physician offices, nursing homes, and patient homes

Education Requirements

One must have, at least, an associate degree to work as a respiratory therapist. Most programs that train people to work in this field offer bachelor's degrees as well and often employers favor job candidates who have graduated from those programs. Respiratory therapy programs can be found at colleges, medical schools, vocational schools, and in the Armed Forces. Respiratory therapy students will take many science-oriented courses including human anatomy and physiology, physics and microbiology. They will also learn about therapeutic and diagnostic procedures, patient assessment and medical record keeping and insurance reimbursement. Respiratory therapists must demonstrate entry level competency by passing the Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) entry level examination administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care. This is required to satisfy the legal requirements of the 49 states that regulate the practice of respiratory therapy. A minimum of an associate’s degree and a certificate of completion from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care is required to take this examination. Programs are offered in schools that award associate, baccalaureate, and graduate degrees. Graduates of these programs can voluntarily demonstrate their advanced level of competency by passing the voluntary Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) examination (also administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care). 

What Respiratory Therapist Do on a Regular Basis

• treat a wide range of patients from infants through the elderly
• consult with physicians and other health care staff to help develop and modify individual patient care plans
• provide complex therapy requiring a great deal of independent judgment, e.g. caring for patients who are on life support in hospital intensive care units
• evaluate patients by performing limited physical examinations and conducting diagnostic tests including those that measure lung capacity tests and acidity and alkalinity of the blood
• treat patients by using oxygen or oxygen mixtures, chest physiotherapy, and aerosol medications
• connect patients who cannot breathe on their own to ventilators that deliver pressurized oxygen into the lungs
• perform regular checks on patients and equipment
• supervise respiratory therapy technicians

Salary

Respiratory therapists earned a median annual salary of $55,250 and median hourly wages of $26.56 in 2011.

Sources

http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/p/resp_therapist.htm

http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/Career/23/Respiratory_Therapist#Tab=Overview