What Is Respiratory Therapist?
Respiratory therapists specialize in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, management and rehabilitation of patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders.
What Does a Respiratory Therapist Do?
Respiratory therapists can act quickly to offer emergency and immediate relief to patients suffering from a blocked passageway, intense asthma attack or other life-threatening experience. They also:
- provide treatment that can range from giving emergency relief to patients with respiratory disorders to long-term care for chronic conditions such as COPD or Cystic Fibrosis
- manage and master life-saving devices such as mechanical ventilators and non-invasive machines
- develop the clinical skills to manage respiratory disorders in a variety of patient populations from premature babies to geriatrics
What Will I Learn With This Training?
Your education at Pima Medical will prepare you to use quick problem solving, combined with compassion and care to treat patients. Whether you’re on the front lines of an emergency room or assisting a patient with solutions for a chronic disorder, you’ll learn from instructors with years of real-world experience. You will put your skills to use before you graduate with hands-on opportunities in medical facilities and learn to:
- monitor, manage and modify life support equipment, including resuscitating patients
- interview and assess patients with breathing or cardiopulmonary disorders
- consult with physicians to diagnose lung diseases and develop patient treatment plans
- perform diagnostics to measure lung function and assess severity of disease
- administer breathing treatments and other adjunct therapies to improve lung function
- educate patients about their condition and how to properly use medication and equipment
- be a valuable and active part of the team in end-of-life and palliative care
Pima Medical Institute’s Respiratory Therapy program offers
courses in advanced respiratory care techniques, including neonatal and adult special care procedures, general and advanced pharmacology, cardiopulmonary disease, patient assessment and therapeutics.
What Career Opportunities Do Respiratory Therapists Have?
Respiratory therapists also work with patients to offer long-term care for chronic conditions. It is a healthcare specialty that focuses on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, management and rehabilitation of patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders. You’ll find job opportunities in:
- hospitals
- specialty clinics: asthma clinics or cystic fibrosis clinics
- long-term care facilities
- pulmonologists’ offices
- sleep labs
- air and ambulance transport companies
You’ll have many career options as well, including the following:
- Respiratory Therapist
- Educator
- Sleep Disorder Specialist
- Pulmonary Function Technologist