Respiratory Therapist job description

Hospitals hold about 80 percent of the 142,000 respiratory therapy jobs BLS counted, in emergency departments, critical care, and neonatal intensive care, which means coverage around the clock with nights and weekends built into the occupation rather than added to it. The median was $82,280 in May 2025, and pay runs from $63,660 up to $118,050 across the middle 80 percent of the workforce.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

Ventilator management and airway care come first, for patients who cannot breathe well enough on their own. Therapists set up and run mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas apparatus, environmental control systems, and aerosol generators to prescribed parameters, measure arterial blood gases and relay results to a physician, watch vital signs and blood chemistry for adverse reactions, and provide emergency care including artificial respiration and support during resuscitation. They determine the type, method, and duration of therapy compatible with physicians' orders, teach patients and families breathing exercises and equipment use, and inspect, clean, test, and maintain their own equipment, including emergency visits when a device fails. Most of a shift is spent standing, and the patients are frequently the most fragile in the building.

Common Skills and Technologies

Monitoring, critical thinking, and active listening rate highest, and monitoring is the one that describes a shift best. The hardware is specific: ventilators, intubation equipment, arterial blood gas analysis, holter monitors for cardiac patients, and the gas delivery systems the therapist maintains. Charting goes into MEDITECH or eClinicalWorks EHR, with Excel and Office for department schedules and logs.

Education, Training, and Career Path

An associate degree in respiratory therapy is the typical entry credential and the shortest degree path among the therapy professions, held by 83 percent of practitioners, and accredited programs in the Armed Forces lead to one as well. Every state except Alaska requires a license. Certification climbs in two steps, the Certified Respiratory Therapist exam and then the Registered Respiratory Therapist credential, which some employers want at hire and others within a set period. In the crosswalk O*NET publishes from military specialties, Army 68V respiratory specialists land directly here. BLS projects 9 percent growth and 8,600 openings a year through 2035.

Sources: O*NET 30.0, 29-1126.00 Respiratory Therapists, https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/29-1126.00. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, 29-1126, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291126.htm. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/respiratory-therapists.htm.