Mostly
known as a specialized healthcare expert, a respiratory therapist primarily works
with intensive care units and some operating rooms. Moreover, you can find
their services in home health and outpatient clinic environments as well. You
can term them as specialists and even educators in the field of pulmonology and
cardiology. They are also considered advanced practice clinicians, working with
airway management. In this sector, they are trained to establish and maintain
an airway during intensive care and trauma. Their services are further required
to administer anesthesia for conscious sedation or surgery.
Managing life support and outpatient
setting
A
respiratory therapist is versatile in what they handle on a daily basis. These
therapists are mainly in charge of managing and initiating life support for patients
in intensive care units. Furthermore, you can procure their help in emergency
departments as well. Their services are used for stabilizing, managing and
treating pre-hospital and transferred patients from other hospitals or clinics.
In
case of an outpatient department, a respiratory therapist is known for acting
as educators in the asthma department. They can even play the role of
diagnosticians in sleep clinical units or ancillary clinical staff in current
pediatric clinics. They can be your best choice clinical providers in cath labs
and cardiology clinics.
Licensure and credentials
In
some parts of the world, especially in the USA, a respiratory therapist is
primarily deemed as healthcare practitioner, after receiving an Associates of
Science in Respiratory Care.
• After passing the competitive exams,
you can apply for a license to practice in that particular region, as governed
by licensing body.
• Respiratory therapists can be
clinicians, after they hold the credential of National Board for Respiratory
Care units. This field may include a pediatric or neonatal specialist, sleep disorder specialist, adult critical care
specialist or even pulmonary functions technologists.
• An aspiring respiratory therapist
might be certified as an asthma educator or AE-C after passing the National Asthma Educator Certification Board.
• In some parts of the world, you are
allowed to practice as provisional respiratory therapist, just after completing
graduation and before writing the CBRC exam.
Role as anesthesia assistant
As
mentioned earlier, a respiratory therapist can be an anesthesia assistant.
Here, the primary work is to provide support to anesthesiologists for
maintenance and proficient use of anesthetic gas machines. Furthermore, this
position is the backbone behind airway management.
• An advanced respiratory therapist
can have increased responsibilities. These therapists are prepared to perform
sedation by administrating medications and anesthetic gasses, managing vascular
access and insertion.
• He can further help the anesthetist
to access the depth of anesthesia under strict nurse guidance.
• This particular role of a
respiratory therapist is more or less similar to a nurse anesthetist. The only
difference is that the anesthesia assistant should have an anesthesiologist to
supervise service, but a nurse does not need one.
Working as other specialists
Other
than being a successful anesthesia assistant, a respiratory therapist can be
your asthma specialist. Here, they will work with hospitals, clinics, and
schools as an educator on allergies and asthma. His primary role here
is an asthma educator, ready to help diagnose and treat asthma.
A
respiratory therapist must work with people suffering from major cystic
fibrosis. For that, they need to educate their patients about the disease and
develop a treatment regimen. He can even fulfill role of cardiovascular
perfusionist, only after completing the proper training. These are some of the
important roles a respiratory therapist plays for healthy living in all
patients.
