The Profession
Respiratory Therapists are allied health professionals who are educated and trained as physician-extenders. We are patient care managers who based on physical examination, and ongoing patient assessment, determine the need for and allocate respiratory care services, managing clinical resources from acute care through discharge planning, to sub-acute and/or home care. We interpret clinically derived patient data, and modify treatment, as the patient's needs change.
As respiratory therapists we often work with our patients from the time of their admission through to their discharge, so we get to see the change that results from what we do for them. When we go home at the end of the day we carry a sense of satisfaction that is uncommon in many careers because when we treat and manage our patients there is immediate and measurable improvement.
Our focus is in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients suffering from diseases of the cardiopulmonary system. We serve as members of cardiac arrest and trauma admission teams. We are committed to respiratory wellness and disease prevention, and often are found administering family asthma and freedom from nicotine programs. Patients of all ages are treated by RTs, from the premature infant in respiratory distress to the senior citizen with end-stage ventilatory failure.
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