Will “Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP)” be Replaced By Robots? 🤔

Job Description

Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care modalities, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians. Initiate and conduct therapeutic procedures; maintain patient records; and select, assemble, check, and operate equipment.

Job Details

• The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 29-1126.00
• The Mean Annual Wage in the U.S. is $ 60,640.00
• The Mean Hourly Wage is $ 29.00
• Currently, there are 126,770 people on this job

☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Respiratory Therapists”.

Also Known As…

• Respiratory Therapists
• Staff Therapist
• Staff Respiratory Therapist
• Respiratory Therapy Director
• Respiratory Therapist (RT)
• Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP)
• Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT)
• Clinical Coordinator of Respiratory Therapy
• Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT)
• Cardiopulmonary Technician and EEG Tech (Cardiopulmonary Technician and Electroencephalogram Technician)
• Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Respiratory Therapist
• Oxygen Therapist
• Inhalation Therapist

Tasks for “Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP)”

• Conduct tests, such as electrocardiograms (EKGs), stress testing, or lung capacity tests, to evaluate patients' cardiopulmonary functions.
• Make emergency visits to resolve equipment problems.
• Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders.
• Transport patients to the hospital or within the hospital.
• Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.
• Perform endotracheal intubation to maintain open airways for patients who are unable to breathe on their own.
• Educate patients and their families about their conditions and teach appropriate disease management techniques, such as breathing exercises or the use of medications or respiratory equipment.
• Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repairs when necessary.
• Use a variety of testing techniques to assist doctors in cardiac or pulmonary research or to diagnose disorders.
• Perform pulmonary function and adjust equipment to obtain optimum results in therapy.
• Explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears.
• Set up and operate devices such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
• Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
• Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.
• Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
• Perform bronchopulmonary drainage and assist or instruct patients in performance of breathing exercises.
• Monitor cardiac patients, using electrocardiography devices, such as a holter monitor.
• Teach, train, supervise, or use the assistance of students, respiratory therapy technicians, or assistants.
• Enforce safety rules and ensure careful adherence to physicians' orders.
• Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
• Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties.
• Demonstrate respiratory care procedures to trainees or other healthcare personnel.

Related Technology & Tools

• Ambu bags
• Pulmonary function testing PFT equipment
• Cannulas
• Oxygen regulators
• Sputum traps
• Blood collection syringes
• Capillary catheters
• Medical aerosol tents
• Cell savers
• Personal digital assistants PDA
• Bedside spirometers
• Medical suction equipment
• Manometers
• Medical oxygen masks
• Bronchoscopes
• Infant incubators
• Nebulizers
• Intra-aortic balloon pumps IABP
• Volume ventilators
• Negative pressure ventilators
• Oxygen flowmeters
• Oxygen hoods
• Nasal airways
• Personal computers
• Indirect calorimeters
• Internal positive pressure breathing IPPB machines
• Oxygen tanks
• Therapeutic treadmill exercisers
• Incentive spirometers
• Electrocardiography EKG units
• Apnea monitors
• High-frequency ventilators
• Endotracheal ET tubes
• Saturation of oxygen SaO2 monitors
• Humidifiers
• Hemodynamic monitors
• Electronic blood pressure equipment
• Continuous positive airway pressure CPAP ventilators
• Tourniquets
• Percussors
• Notebook computers
• Aerosol masks
• Oxygen tents
• Tracheotomy masks
• Oxygen masks
• Tracheostomy tubes
• Portable flat computers
• Pulse oximeters
• Oxygen concentrators
• Mechanical stethoscopes
• Christmas tree adapters
• Blood gas machines
• Manual blood pressure equipment
• Oxygen monitors
• Bilevel positive airway pressure BiPAP ventilators
• Evacuated blood collection tubes
• Small particle aerosol generators
• Air compressors
• Oral airways
• Blood gas kits
• Surgical suits
• Wright's spirometers

• Microsoft Office
• Database software
• HMS
• Microsoft Outlook
• Electronic medical record EMR software
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Word
• Calendar and scheduling software
• MEDITECH software