Respiratory Therapist Job

Respiratory Therapist Job - Description, Salary, Certification

Significant points in becoming a respiratory therapist are that the job market should be very good. Hospitals are always in need of a certified technician with a license in the duties of respiratory therapy. Hospitals will be the biggest market for respiratory therapist jobs, but there is a growing number of other settings that are needing this type of position also such as doctors offices...

The training of becoming a certified respiratory therapist or a registered respiratory therapist consists of getting an associates degree but in order for advancement in the field, one must have a bachelors or masters degree from accredited schools also.

To describe the nature of work that a certified respiratory therapist does, basically they evaluate and treat patients who have some sort of lung disease. A respiratory therapist has also been known as a respiratory care practitioner.

A respiratory therapist takes the responsibility for all the respiratory care therapeutic treatments and the diagnostic procedures related. They are also the supervisors for any respiratory therapist technicians.

Respiratory therapist technicians follow care procedures given to them by the respiratory therapist and the physician assigned to the case.

In much of the practice, the respiratory therapist and the technicians job usually play a role right beside on another but the respiratory therapist will have more responsibility then the technicians.

The respiratory therapist will consult with the physician and any other health care individual involved, to define the appropriate plan of action of the specific individuals case.

The respiratory therapist will also be the one who is involved with the more difficult cases such as a patient who on life support. They will be required to make independent judgment on the therapy that is needed.

A respiratory therapist also gives temporary relief to patients who are suffering from such illnesses as emphysema or chronic asthma. They will also be responsible for giving emergency treatment to patients who have experienced a heart attack, stroke, shock, or a near drowning experience.

When treating patients, the respiratory therapist has to perform regular assessments of patients and the equipment they are using in order to adjust any oxygen level when needed. These are just a few duties that the respiratory therapist must perform.

Per the salaries of a working respiratory therapists, the more training and experience that one has, the more of an income the therapist will encounter. In May of 2006, annual earnings for a respiratory therapist, was around $47,500.

The pay scale of a respiratory therapist who has training and experience vs the respiratory therapist technician ranged from $25,940 a year to a more trained and experienced salary of up to $64,190.