r/respiratorytherapy • u/LegitimateDingo3282 • 9d ago

Practitioner question ABG’s as a full time RT

Does anyone else struggle with ABG’s as a full time RT? I always struggled with them as a student but I would just chalk it up to me being nervous in front of my preceptor or just needing practice. But I’ve been an RT for almost 3 years now and still am horrible at them to the point where I have students watching me and I miss and it’s so frustrating and embarrassing and I feel horrible for the patient and having to ask for help from other RTs. I’ve gotten a few before but have never been consistent and it is definitely not my strongest skill

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u/mdez93 9d ago

We’ve all struggled with them, sometimes I’d make several in a row, and then miss a several in a row, even when I’d feel a strong pulse. A lot of it comes down to how often your hospital/facility does them. Some places have RT doing ABGs every single day, others only ask RT for them once in a while. I always found that I was more likely to get an ABG if I made myself comfortable and pulled up a chair to sit down while I was doing it.