r/respiratorytherapy

I work at a small hospital with mostly people in their 20s and early 30s, plus one guy in his 50s. We've all been there 7-10 years. I've been there the longest.

The people younger than me have a Snapchat group. I found out about it years ago. Everyone but me and the older guy is in it. That hurts, but whatever. I don't necessarily want to hang out with them outside of work anyway. I have plenty of friends.

The problem is that I caught them taking videos of me yesterday. I had already suspected they were making fun of me, and one of the registry people told me she knows they film me, but she didn't provide any specific examples.

It's one thing to gossip. I have been guilty of that myself, but filming people without their consent crosses a line.

Should I quit? Call them out? Or just hide/keep to myself?

I feel like with the rise of nursing/rad tech on social media, everyone is under the impression that those are only careers in healthcare worth getting a degree for. I’m so excited to start RT school this fall, but every time I tell someone that I’m going to school for this, they always hit me with the usual “why not nursing or rad tech school” “you’re gonna be dealing with a lot of sputum/mucus” “there’s not a lot of opportunity for progression” “it’s an underpaid field” etc etc and i’m truly OVER it. It’s like they’re disappointed or something omg. They’re always pointing out negatives. When is everyone gonna realize that healthcare doesn’t only exist for nurses, doctors, or rad techs?? Sometimes, all people want is a good paying job and work/life balance. Why is the expectation to always “shoot for something higher” like a bachelors or masters??? This mindset that respiratory therapy isn’t a respectable career is rude and condescending 🙄

After working in the hospital as a CNA and seeing what the nurses have to deal with, I think I made the right move (no disrespect to nurses tho).

I’m just over the general negativity and overall disrespect. I think RRT is an excellent career, esp for only a 2 yr degree. And the pay, workload, work/life balance isn’t bad either. More people need to be educated and explore different pathways in healthcare beyond the typical .

ok rant over LOL

There’s another RT at my hospital who is known for being lazy and leaving the workload on other coworkers. He will do everything he can to get out of a treatment. Sometimes that means asking the docs to space the pt from q2 to q4 or to q6 even when the pt really needs tx that frequently. And he will ignore tx that are due and let everyone else take them on.
Well I’ve caught him lying about doing a treatment on an asthmatic who really needed their treatments, I couldnt exactly prove it but I was on rounds with the doctors at the time the tx was due and he never showed up to that room but said he did it. Another trusted coworker said he’s done that a few times and that he’s been talked to about his laziness before and nothing changes because we’re union I guess. Well the last week we were working together on the floors and we both walked into two rooms to do an aerosol treatment in the same hallway at the same time. I got my pt set up with their tx then went to chart and when I opened the computer I saw he charted the pts treatment was done 2 min after walking in. Then I see him out of the door in the hallway again. He was in there for 2, no more than 3 min but charted that he gave the treatment. I feel like I should report him but I’m worried it will come back and bite me in the ass since this has been an issue for his 20yr of working here. At the same time I feel like he needs to be held accountable. What should I do?

I tried asking the PA subreddit this question but they deleted my post...just trying to find out what settings ex RTs, working PAs do now? I feel like the most obvious move is to transition to ICU or ER but I'm curious as to what other settings there are where our experience would give us an edge

I’ve been a RT for about 2 years now. I work at a very fast pace hospital but feel like we do things the “ghetto” way if that makes sense. Recently we have had a lot of travelers who by chance were amazing. I learned SO much from them. One thing one said was that during cpr they don’t use a peep valve because you don’t want to decrease cardiac output. When I was orienting all of our senior RT wanted the peep valve on. The traveler also stated to only do 10-12 breaths if we got them back instead of 18-20 even tho as soon as we put them on the vent we started them out at that rate.

Im going to be moving next year for my husbands work (military) and I am nervous if I go somewhere else I will look dumb doing things the way I am used to at my hospital. Does anyone have any input?

Hey guys, I posted here before about being an ER tech trying to decide between paramedic and RT.

Right now I’m leaning toward RT long-term, but I’m wondering if it would actually make sense to get my paramedic first. The medic program near me is less than a year, and as a new paramedic I’d go from about $18/hour to around $29/hour, so basically a $12–15 raise pretty quickly. Not including 1.5x pay which is abundant where I work.

My thought process is that I could work as a paramedic while finishing RT prereqs and eventually RT school, instead of trying to survive financially during RT school on my current ER tech pay. I also genuinely like EMS and prehospital medicine, so it’s not like I’d hate doing it. I just don’t necessarily see paramedic as my forever career, whereas RT feels more like my long-term lane.

So basically:

- ER tech now

- Could get medic in under a year

- Make significantly more while doing RT school

- Continue getting emergency/prehospital experience

- Eventually transition into RT

I’m also considering Air Force RT because the idea of getting schooling paid for sounds appealing, and from what I understand they can also train you in things like cardiovascular tech roles too.

Does this pathway sound reasonable, or does it seem pointless to do paramedic first if RT is the end goal anyway? Curious if anyone here has done something similar or worked with people who went medic -> RT.

Thabks for any advice. This has to be one of the most friendly Reddit forums I've been on. You guys all rock.

Hi everyone, I really need some honest opinions because I feel sooo stuck right now. I have three months to figure this out.

I’m about to finish school and become a respiratory therapist, and I’ve been going back and forth on whether to stay in Miami or move to Texas (Dallas/McKinney area). I genuinely can’t decide and it’s stressing me out 😭

Here’s my situation:

I currently live in Miami. I have a potential job lined up at a hospital here (night shift, decent pay, familiar environment, coworkers I like). It feels safe and comfortable.

But my family will be moving to texas to be close to my sister and her new born.

Miami pros:
- Already have connections at many hospital from clinicals
- Comfortable, familiar, feel “safe”
- Good pay (especially for nights)
- Love the lifestyle (beach, palm trees, vibe)
- Don’t have many friends, but the few I do have are here
-Big sign-on bonuses / hospitals pay for bachelors degree

Miami cons:
- Expensive rent / cost of living
- No family here
- Traveling is harder because of my dog

Texas pros:
- Family support system
- Lower cost of living
- Might get stronger clinical experience
- Better long-term stability

Texas cons:
- I’d be starting over completely
- Scared I won’t find a job environment I like as much
- No beach/lifestyle I’m used to
- Nervous about my confidence as a new RT
- Feels like a huge, scary change
- idk if they do sign on bonuses or pay for bachelors

Also… I have a dog that makes everything harder with moving/travel, and that’s honestly a big factor too.

I think what’s really holding me back is fear. Miami feels comfortable, but I don’t know if I’m choosing comfort over growth. At the same time, I’m scared of moving and regretting it.

If you’ve ever been in a similar situation or moved states for a job… what would you do? Stay where you feel safe or take the risk?

I’d really appreciate any advice 🥺

I’m a new grad with 6 months under my belt so maybe I have not gotten used to it yet but I just needed to rant. I’m taking care of a pt in there late 70s. Severely malnourished weighing about 60 lbs. Only because the family insisted on feeding the pt instead of a peg tube. They aspirated. There nonverbal, there legs and arms are contracted from a previous stroke. But of course the family wants to keep them alive in this state. My heart genuinely hurts for this pt because there is no quality of life like this. My question is does it get easier seeing people do this to there family members? Maybe I’m just overly sensitive but still. I know this whole posts sounds very dumb, but I just needed to rant.

Hey! I’m an Army Vet and Firefighter EMT with 6 years of experience. I currently work at a very busy city working 24/48, not being paid very much at all, and all around just burning out. I have 2 major L 1 trauma centers within a stone toss of my house, both of which have ground and flight transport teams with staffed RT’s on board (I know that’s a down the line thing but just stating that it’s there). I have the GI BILL so I can just focus on that and have airway management and intubation experience from being on the bus. What does the day to day look like? I need something else. This shit is killing me (being covered in literal shit almost every shift is also getting old)
Any advice? I want to set up an appt to shadow. I know it’s not all sunshine and rainbows and not always trauma (which I love and do well with) but I figured being at a trauma center would increase the likelihood of working in the ED and icu.
I would eventually want to do transport and know there is more down the line with that, I’ve enjoyed my experiences working with RT’s in EMS situations and been jealous of how cool there job is.
Sincerely, a burnt out fireman who wants for for his family

Would love to hear from someone at CMC Main

Is there a role where RTs are only in the ED department? If you do this, how do you like it? I currently work in the ER as an EMT. RT is something I'm pursuing in the near future. Thanks for any feedback!

Trauma RTs in particular.

I just want to say congrats to everybody that passed that class. I read on here how it was the hardest class blah blah. I did board questions for final exam practice that were easier than the actual exam. Kudos to whoever passed recently and thanks to you guys for warning me.

I was working In the icu last night and had a patient who was really sick (crash cart in the room) Near death sick but full code. Near shift change I noticed she was desating and bagged her back to the 90s. The nurses were livid. They told me they were waiting for her to code and I should’ve let her. That the nurse practitioner knows she’s sick and we could’ve just coded her 1 round. I tried to explain that I can’t have her desating in epic just bc the nurse practitioner knows she’s sick (BP was low but holding out). Did I do the right thing? Should I have just called a rapid? Every code/rapid I’ve been in is usually acute or BP tanks before o2. I’ve never had a waiting for someone to code situation and didn’t really know what to do.

i just finished my pre-reqs for PTA and last minute i was almost sold on changing to the respiratory therapist program in my school.

When I told my mom , she said basically that i would be dealing with peoples mucous and phlegm and i wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Death , i can handle . cleaning mucous out of a tube … not so much . sorry but can someone confirm this ?

I was waitlisted for an ADN RN program, and accepted into RT school at the same time.

Last week I received a call that I was moved off the waitlist. I didn’t really know how to feel about it. Because I was so excited for RT.

So, I accepted the seat but kept my RT seat, too. We had 48 hours to accept.

A little note: I have no choice but to work in school. I applied to all the loans and scholarships to help with rent/bills. Because the school for both programs is only about $6k. FSL is only offering me $9k/year.

The ONLY surgical technologist job I could find on nights within a 45 minute radius to make RN school work offered me only $19.36/hr with no wiggle room. That’s barely enough to cover all bills.

I am a traveler Surg tech right now, and I was willing to go from $2k-$3k/week to $30-$35/hr (which is what I was offered on a day shift), but $19.36/hr there’s no way.

Whereas, if I stayed in RT school, I could still travel for my first year because school is only on Mondays. And then just take a PRN gig when I start my final year.

Any advice? Any thoughts? How did you pay for everything while in school?

Is there any free CSE practice exams out there?