Respiratory therapist

A respiratory therapist is a specialized healthcare practitioner trained in critical care and cardio-pulmonary medicine in order to work therapeutically with people who have acute critical conditions, cardiac and pulmonary disease. Respiratory therapists graduate from a college or university with a degree in respiratory therapy and have passed a national board certifying examination. The NBRC (National Board for Respiratory Care) is responsible for credentialing as a CRT (certified respiratory therapist), or RRT (registered respiratory therapist) in the United States. The Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists and provincial regulatory colleges administer the RRT credential in Canada.

The American specialty certifications of respiratory therapy include: CPFT and RPFT (Certified or Registered Pulmonary Function Technologist), ACCS (Adult Critical Care Specialist), NPS (Neonatal/Pediatric Specialist), and SDS (Sleep Disorder Specialist).

Respiratory therapists work in hospitals in the intensive care units (Adult, Pediatric, and Neonatal), on hospital floors, in emergency departments, in pulmonary functioning laboratories (PFTs), are able to intubate patients, work in sleep labs (polysomnography) (PSG) labs, and in home care specifically DME (durable medical equipment) and home oxygen.

Respiratory therapists are specialists and educators in many areas including cardiology, pulmonology, and sleep therapy. Respiratory therapists are clinicians trained in advanced airway management; establishing and maintaining the airway during management of trauma, and intensive care.

Respiratory therapists initiate and manage life support for people in intensive care units and emergency departments, stabilizing, treating and managing pre-hospital and hospital-to-hospital patient transport by air or ground ambulance.

In the outpatient setting respiratory therapists work as educators in asthma clinics, ancillary clinical staff in pediatric clinics, and sleep-disorder diagnosticians in sleep-clinics, they also serve as clinical providers in cardiology clinics and cath-labs, as well as working in pulmonary rehabilitation.

Respiratory therapy, done by respiratory therapists, is a large variety of treatments to help with breathing and support the heart's work. Giving oxygen and drugs to ease breathing are two examples. Respiratory therapists also do patient assessments.

Respiratory therapists educate, assist in diagnosis, and treat people who have heart and lung problems. Specialized in both cardiac and pulmonary care, respiratory therapists often collaborate with specialists in pulmonology and anaesthesia in various aspects of clinical care of patients. Respiratory therapists provide a vital role in both medicine and nursing such as the initiation and maintenance of mechanical ventilation.