Respiratory therapists work to evaluate, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Those people include patients with chronic lung problems, such as asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema, but they also include heart attack and accident victims; premature infants; and people with cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, or AIDS.
Respiratory therapists perform procedures that are both diagnostic and therapeutic. Some of these activities include:
Diagnosis
- Obtaining and analyzing sputum samples
- Obtaining and analyzing Arterial Blood Gas samples (ABGs). An ABG measures the amount of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other gasses in blood.
- Perform Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) to determine lung function / impairment.
- Study disorders of people with disruptive sleep patterns like Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
Treatment
- Operating and maintaining various types of highly sophisticated equipment to administer oxygen or to assist with breathing.
- Employing Mechanical Ventilation in treating patients who cannot breathe adequately on their own.
- Monitoring and managing therapy that will help a patient recover lung function.
- Administering medications in aerosol form to help alleviate breathing problems and to help prevent respiratory infections.
- Maintaining a patient's artificial airway, one that may be in place to help the patient who can't breathe through normal means.
- Educating the patient about their disease process and treatments their physician has prescribed.
Education Requirements
- Respiratory Therapists are licensed health care professionals who must graduate from a fully accredited school offering either an Associate's degree (2-year) or a Bachelor's degree (4-year). Currently there are 18 accredited schools in the state of Ohio (15 offering Associate's degrees and 3 Baccalaureate programs). Generally curriculum includes: Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Respiratory Therapy courses. Training is done in a variety of classroom, laboratory, and clinical settings. Upon graduation, therapists are required to become certified by taking the entry-level exam (CRT). Once he or she has been certified they may then take the advanced level exam (RRT) to become registered.
Learn more about this exciting profession from the American Association for Respiratory Care and the National Board for Respiratory Care.
