What is a Respiratory Therapist?

What is a Respiratory Therapist?

A Respiratory Therapist is a specialized healthcare worker who is in charge of monitoring pulmonary health, choosing the proper oxygen modalities, managing respiratory support machines, and administering inhaled medications to their patient’s. They are required to know how all the organ systems of the body impact the pulmonary system. RT's work side by side with Nursing staff in the Intensive Care Unit, step down units (intermediate units), and acute care floors in the hospital and hold various healthcare roles throughout the healthcare system.

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Key equipment Respiratory Therapists are Responsible for include:

Oxygen Modalities

Nasal Cannula

Small Mask

Face Tent

Air Entrainment Masks

High Flow Nasal Cannula

Non-Rebreather

CPAP

BiPAP

Ventilator

Nebulized Medications

Albuterol

Levalbuterol

Hypertonic Saline

Duoneb

Atrovent

Tranexamic Acid

Iloprost

Flolan

Dornase Alfa

Flovent

Advair

Spiriva

Pulmicort

Mucomyst

Pentamidine

TOBI

Colistin

Inhaled Gases

Nitric Oxide

Heliox

IsoFluorane

Pulmonary Diseases and Diseases affecting the Pulmonary System in Adult patients

COPD

Asthma

Cystic Fibrosis

Bronchiectasis

Interstitial Lung Disease

Pneumonia

COVID-19

Pulmonary Fibrosis

ARDS

CHF

Heart Failure

Diabetes

Drug Overdose

Alcoholism

Traumatic Brain Injury

Stroke

Heart Attack

Pulmonary Edema

Chronic Kidney Disease

Increased Intracranial Pressures

Encephalopathy

Post Cardiac Arrest Care

Respiratory Arrest

Upper Airway Obstruction

Foreign Body Aspiration

VAP

Aspiration

Cancer

Quadriplegic patients

ALS

Guillan-Barre

Myasthenia Gravis

Pulmonary Embolism

Intubation Equipment

Ambu Bag + Mask

Endotracheal Tubes

Capnometer

Laryngoscope

Syringe

Stylet

Hollister or Anchorfast

Ventilator

Inline-Suction

Sution Catheter

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Procedures

Arterial Stick

Running Arterial Blood Gases

Assist in Bronchoscopies

Intubation

Tracheostomy Placement and Management

Proning

ETT Exchange

Mini-Bronchoalveolar Lavage

Tracheal Aspirate Collection

Transporting Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Acquired and Required Skills

Arterial Sticks

Interpreting Arterial Blood Gases and making appropriate mechanical ventilator changes

Communication Skills with Nursing, Physicians, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Language Pathology, other Respiratory Therapists

Charting in the Electronic Medical Record

Patient Assessment

Selecting the appropriate oxygen modality

Being part of a CODE Blue

Well that's all for this post, I hope you learned some good information about what we do as Respiratory Therapists and what we need to know. Also, Don’t forget to subscribe to my Newsletter so you can stay up to date with all my blog posts, eBooks, and educational videos.