RESPIRATORY THERAPY (RPT)
(Wallace Campus)

Program Description:
The Respiratory Therapist Program produces graduates prepared for careers as professional Respiratory Therapists. In doing so, the program provides both didactic and clinical training to enable each graduate to function as an assistant to the physician in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective respiratory therapy. Graduates also serve as educational and therapeutic resources for patients who suffer disorders of the cardiopulmonary system.  The Program educates individuals to become respiratory therapists capable of administering respiratory care based on the application of principles and concepts involved in the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases and related abnormalities, both in traditional and non-traditional settings. Graduates are eligible to attempt both the Entry-Level Examination for Respiratory Care Practitioners and the Advanced Practitioner Examination System as administered by the National Board of Respiratory Care (NBRC). Successful completion of these examinations earns the Registered Respiratory Therapist credential.

Career Opportunities:
Employment of respiratory therapists is expected to grow by 21 percent from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations. The increasing demand will come from substantial growth in the middle-aged and elderly population—a development that will heighten the incidence of cardiopulmonary disease. Growth in demand also will result from the expanding role of respiratory therapists in case management, disease prevention, emergency care, and the early detection of pulmonary disorders.  Older Americans suffer most from respiratory ailments and cardiopulmonary diseases, such as pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and heart disease. As the number of older persons increases, the need for respiratory therapists is expected to increase as well. In addition, advances in inhalable medications and in the treatment of lung transplant patients, heart attack and accident victims, and premature infants—many of whom depend on a ventilator during part of their treatment—will increase the demand for the services of respiratory care practitioners.

Skills Needed:

• Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
• Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Respiratory therapists interview patients, perform limited physical examinations, and conduct diagnostic tests. For example, respiratory therapists test a patient's breathing capacity and determine the concentration of oxygen and other gases in a patient's blood. They also measure a patient's pH, which indicates the acidity or alkalinity of the blood. To evaluate a patient's lung capacity, respiratory therapists have the patient breathe into an instrument that measures the volume and flow of oxygen during inhalation and exhalation. By comparing the reading with the norm for the patient's age, height, weight, and sex, respiratory therapists can provide information that helps determine whether the patient has any lung deficiencies. To analyze oxygen, carbon dioxide, and blood pH levels, therapists draw an arterial blood sample, place it in a blood gas analyzer, and relay the results to a physician, who then makes treatment decisions.

To treat patients, respiratory therapists use oxygen or oxygen mixtures, chest physiotherapy, and aerosol medications—liquid medications suspended in a gas that forms a mist which is inhaled. They teach patients how to inhale the aerosol properly to ensure its effectiveness. When a patient has difficulty getting enough oxygen into his or her blood, therapists increase the patient's concentration of oxygen by placing an oxygen mask or nasal cannula on the patient and setting the oxygen flow at the level prescribed by a physician. Therapists also connect patients who cannot breathe on their own to ventilators that deliver pressurized oxygen into the lungs. The therapists insert a tube into the patient's trachea, or windpipe; connect the tube to the ventilator; and set the rate, volume, and oxygen concentration of the oxygen mixture entering the patient's lungs.

Therapists perform regular assessments of patients and equipment. If a patient appears to be having difficulty breathing or if the oxygen, carbon dioxide, or pH level of the blood is abnormal, therapists change the ventilator setting according to the doctor's orders or check the equipment for mechanical problems.

Respiratory therapists perform chest physiotherapy on patients to remove mucus from their lungs and make it easier for them to breathe. Therapists place patients in positions that help drain mucus, and then vibrate the patients' rib cages, often by tapping on the chest, and tell the patients to cough. Chest physiotherapy may be needed after surgery, for example, because anesthesia depresses respiration. As a result, physiotherapy may be prescribed to help get the patient's lungs back to normal and to prevent congestion. Chest physiotherapy also helps patients suffering from lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, that cause mucus to collect in the lungs.

Therapists who work in home care teach patients and their families to use ventilators and other life-support systems. In addition, these therapists visit patients in their homes to inspect and clean equipment, evaluate the home environment, and ensure that patients have sufficient knowledge of their diseases and the proper use of their medications and equipment. Therapists also make emergency visits if equipment problems arise.

Expected Earnings/Salary:
The earnings of respiratory therapists will vary depending on experience, skill level, and location of employment. 

• Median national annual wages of wage-and-salary respiratory therapists were $54,280  based on an hourly wage of $26.10 in May 2010. 
• Projections of the low and high ten-percent range from $39,990 to $73,410.

CATALOG INFORMATION (Course and Admission Requirements)(pdf)