Respiratory Therapist Job Responsibilities
Respiratory therapists are the healthcare professionals who treat people who suffer from breathing or cardiopulmonary diseases/ problems. They treat a varied number of patients including premature infants with underdeveloped lungs, children or adults with any respiratory disease like cystic fibrosis, asthma and COPD etc. The respiratory therapists have to fulfil a number of responsibilities at this position; a few of these responsibilities are given here for convenience.
Respiratory Therapist Job Responsibilities
- It is the responsibility of the respiratory therapist to lodge all the medical histories of the individual patient including previous illnesses, injuries, surgeries, general health/ lifestyle pattern, previous or present working conditions etc.
- It is the responsibility of the respiratory therapist to oversee that all the required and appropriate tests of the patient are conducted.
- It is the responsibility of the respiratory therapist to help in making the proper diagnosis of the patient’s illness/ disorder based on the information collected and the result of the tests.
- The respiratory therapist is responsible for ensuring that a patient is provided with emergency care (as and when required) such as artificial respiration, external cardiac message, cardiopulmonary resuscitation etc.
- The respiratory therapist is responsible for charting out a proper plan of treatment including the type/ method of treatment, duration of treatment, therapies to be employed etc.
- It is the responsibility of a respiratory therapist to monitor and record the patient’s response to the treatment such as the patient’s vital signs, blood chemistry changes, other physiological responses etc.
- It is the responsibility of the respiratory therapist to check the patient prescriptions, measure arterial blood gases, review the patient information to access the patient condition from time to time.
- It is the responsibility of the respiratory therapist to ensure that all the safety rules and the orders from the physicians are followed to the core.
Category: Health Care Job Responsibilities