If you are compassionate, detail-oriented, have good interpersonal skills and patience, and possess problem-solving and science and math skills, you may want to consider becoming a Respiratory Therapist.
A Respiratory Therapist is trained and skilled to assess, diagnose and treat patients who have difficulty breathing. They work with people of all ages, from infants to the elderly, along with physicians and nurses to develop treatment plans that will best help restore as much natural breathing as possible.
From initial interviewing and examining, to teaching patients how to administer treatment on their own, respiratory therapists are a critical component in helping people living with cardio-pulmonary disease and disorders.
Respiratory therapists have busy jobs. They meet and examine patients who have pulmonary diseases, disorders, or complications, they conduct, perform and analyze diagnostic and function tests to assess lung capacity and capability, they work with physicians and nurses to create treatment plans, they treat patients with aerosol medications and chest physiotherapy, they evaluate the treatment progress, they administer inhalants and operate mechanical ventilators and other machines, they train patients how to administer treatments and use equipment on their own and they protect patients through stringent protocols.
