The respiratory therapist treats people with health care issues affecting the cardiopulmonary system such as asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, cardiovascular disorders, and trauma.
In the hospital setting, the respiratory therapist provides care and life support to patients in the emergency room, intensive care units, general hospital areas, the pulmonary diagnostics laboratory and other specialty areas such as rehabilitation. They use high-tech equipment and the latest medical procedures to help patients and may be employed in non-hospital environments as well.
Patients receiving care from a respiratory therapist range in age from the premature infant to geriatrics. The respiratory professional is also involved in the diagnostic testing of infants, children and adults with underlying medical concerns including disease and sleep disorders.
The Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) credential is required to acquire state license and practice as a respiratory therapist. This is obtained by passing the National Board for Respiratory Care certification examination. At minimum, an associate's degree from an accredited respiratory care program is required; increasingly, hospitals and other health care providers are seeking professionals with a bachelor's degree in the field.
Upon graduation from a regionally accredited program, graduates are eligible to sit for the two-part advanced practitioner registration examination and achieve the CRT and/or Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential.
Other credentialing specialty examinations, such as neonatal/pediatric specialty and registered pulmonary function technician, are also available.
The annual salary for someone with the job title Registered Respiratory Therapist may vary depending on a number of factors including industry, company size, location, years of experience and level of education. Our team of Certified Compensation Professionals has analyzed survey data collected from thousands of HR departments at companies of all sizes and industries to present this range of annual salaries for people with the job title Registered Respiratory Therapist in the United States.
At a minimum, respiratory therapists need an associate degree, but the field’s elite also have a bachelor’s degree. According to the American Association for Respiratory Care, there are 381 associate programs throughout the country, 57 bachelor’s degree programs and three master’s programs. Anticipate coursework in anatomy, chemistry, microbiology, pharmacology and mathematics. These programs also offer training on performing diagnostic tests and patient assessment.
The next step in training is obtaining a license and certification. There are two certification levels that most RTs seek: Certified Respiratory Therapist (known as CRT), which indicates your mastery of essential knowledge, skills and abilities as an entry-level therapist, and the Registered Respiratory Therapist certification, or RRT. An RRT credential signifies a more advanced level of knowledge. “In today’s market, people are looking for advanced practice clinicians, and therefore, there’s a movement for employers to really push for the RRT credential,” Myers says. “We’ve basically told our grads when coming in the door that they had to achieve their RRT within a year of employment.”
Specialists have other certifications to consider, including the Neonatal/Pediatric Respiratory Care Specialist credential, or the Sleep Disorders Testing and Therapeutic Intervention Respiratory Care Specialist credential.
Practice your people skills and problem-solving abilities so you can better relate to and examine patients, plus consult with doctors and other health care personnel on appropriate treatments. Understanding how to operate medical equipment is an asset, in addition to computer skills, since medical records are increasingly digitized.
Having a head for evidence-based medicine will also help you go far. “Evidence-based medicine is about taking the science out of research and continuous quality improvement initiatives, and then transferring it into best clinical practice,” Myers says. “There’s a big focus in the U.S. on quality and safety and preventing infections that are hospital-acquired. We’re looking for people to take best practice and take science and convert that into best-practice standards.”
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