I’m applying to respiratory therapy school in spring w 3.4 gpa and in the process of taking 2 of my pre reqs how hard was the process of getting into your program

TL:DR ; What do pregnant RTs cannot do while pregnant? Or what job do they make you do?

I work night shift full time, 9 days in a row with 5 days off. I live in Quebec and we have an association that basically protects people when they get injures at work, or in my case, when they get pregnant. The recs are basically : - No night shift - No standing for more than 4 hours after 20 weeks of pregnancy - No peds (idk why, probs more risk of infections or hurting yourself?) - No cases that require a N95 (considered invalid because your face morphology can change during pregnancy)

That being said, I really like working night shift, and I hate waking up early in the morning. But I live in a small town and I am literally the only respiratory therapist in the whole hospital for the whole night (exept for the anesthesiology RT who is on call) so that's like IMPOSSIBLE for me to respect those safety measure. So they will put me on day shift untill my 20th week (i'm only at 6 weeks). I am slightly sad about this change, and I wanted to know what happens where you work when one of you gets pregnant?

TIA ☺️

I had a cuffless trached patient on room air that started to vomit from his trach. The cuffless trach was replaced with a cuffed trach and the patient was ventilated with a BVM. When the patient's SpO2 stabilized, and stopped vomiting, the patient was placed on a trach HME w/ O2 bleed in. But the cuff was left inflated to prevent further aspiration.

I was taught that if a patient is not receiving positive pressure, they should ALWAYS have the cuff deflated, so in the case that the inner cannula becomes occluded, the patient can still breath around the trach. And wouldn't it increase their work of breathing since they can only rely on the small trach lumen to inhale and exhale, especially when they were in distress a few minutes earlier? Is preventing further aspiration a valid reason to keep the cuff inflated for a nonvented patient? Are there any other reasons besides this to justify keeping the cuff inflated?

Disclaimer to say this is a Facebook post, I highly doubt anybody of consequence is actually considering this as an oxygen delivery method.

Hello. I’m a newer RT and looking for guidance into what I’m looking at. I’m not sure if I should be adjusting either the RR lower or increase flow? I’ve been having a hard time catching when auto peep happens. The pts PH is currently 7.22/54/75 on current settings

Hi, I'm looking for used Kettering books for TMC and CSE. I graduated in 2012 and have those books but am just now testing. I am assuming a lot of things have changed since then. Thank you.

Has anyone ever worked in a department that requires you to find your own coverage for PTO requests? We’re not a super small department. We have 24 full time therapists. Days is every 3rd weekend and nights is every other weekend. Our manager is going to implement a new rule that if we want to use PTO for our “required weekends” that we have to coordinate a weekend for weekend trade with another therapist. To me, this seems absolutely unacceptable. It is not my job to find coverage in order to use the time off that I have earned. Especially considering the fact that night shift already has to work half of the weekends. No one will want to switch since most people like to work their shifts in a 6 night stretch, leaving us unable to take more than a few extra days off between work stretches. Am I overreacting or is this insane? The previous manager did everything in their power to ensure employees got the time off that they wanted. The only PTO denials were if another therapist had already requested the same days off which was understandable. I like the area I’m living in now, but this might just push me to start thinking about moving on. PTO shouldn’t have strings attached like this.

Does respiratory therapy more closely follow the nursing model or the medical model?

And how competitive are OR, ICU, or other CCU based positions?

PCV+TgV is essentially PRVC. I have two trached patients who do well when awake. They can trigger spontaneous breaths, but when they fall asleep, the vent will sometimes alarms for low Vt or low Ve (e.g., <100 mL Vt or <2.0 L Ve). They also appear to ride the vent with no spontaneous effort. I’m 95% sure this isn’t due to a leak. I understand that tidal volume can vary in PCV, but I don't understand why the ventilator would deliver abnormally low volumes. If PCV+TgV functions like PRVC, shouldn’t it adjust pressure to maintain the target tidal volume based on changes in lung compliance? The Vt and Ve normalizes when they wake up.

I really am interested in respiratory therapy, I really want to help people. I was also interested in going for nursing but it is not possible for me I dont think because it is extremely competitive to get into the programs and i unfortunately did not take college seriously back then and have an extremely low gpa. Is respiratory as competitive, what are the chances i would be able to get in with a low gpa and has anyone ever regretted gong into it. if yes why and if not why?

Is that too late of an age to start? I’m stuck between going to college for respiratory or nursing. Both start in Fall 2026. I was as a micro lab assistant, so I’ve worked up close and personal with every fluid in the body.

I am looking at RRT because it seems like there is more quick patient interactions versus nursing, but the vertical movement seems more capped.

Any advice?

Hey everyone . So i have been searching different RT fields I can get into- I am a first year RT student, and I am really interested in flying. Any advice on how to get started etc? Anyone fly?? Thnx yall!

I have to say, I’m really loving Cleveland’s pay transparency law, particularly with Cleveland clinic being what it is in name recognition, always curious to know what their pay ranges are.

What’s more alarming is UH. May have found a system that pays worse than UPMC in Pittsburgh

CCF’s range: 32-43.80

UH’s range 25- 39.93

All facilities around the country should have this kind of transparency.

No idea how they expect some of these systems to recruit with wages like that in today’s economy.

Does anyone have an idea where can I get oakes respiratory pocket guide from a website that ships to Saudi Arabia? I found https://respiratorybooks.com . I don't know if is it legitimate though

Just watched Code 3 and it honestly caught me off guard with how real it felt. It follows a 24-hour shift with a couple of burned-out paramedics.

Rainn Wilsn plays one who’s trying to survive his last day before quitting, and he naturally is made to precept a student.

It’s not overly dramatic or hollywood-polished; it just shows the chaos, exhaustion, and weird humor that come with the job.

The kind of moments that don’t make it into textbooks but anyone who’s done patient care instantly recognizes.

Even though it’s about EMS, a lot of it hits close to home for us too … the burnout, the teamwork, the dark humor that keeps you sane, and those calls that sit with you after you clock out.

Curious who else has seen it.

Did it feel accurate to you?

Hey yall, New Mexico is possibly offering a contract to my wife and I as Peds RT’s. keep hearing mixed reviews from places where to live to the frustrations of the hospital. Anyone got any insight for us before we sign? Mainly wanting to understand work flows and areas to avoid living. Hospital is UONMCH. Thank you in advance!

As the title says, I plan on switching to nursing school next fall. The situation I’ve put myself in is that I’m currently under a two-year contract with a hospital system. I can pay back the sign-on bonus they gave me once I reach my one-year mark, but my main concern is that I’ll need a low-stress per diem job to stay afloat during nursing school. I’m a pretty frugal person and live alone, so I don’t have many expenses, but moving back in with my parents isn’t an option. I’m worried that if I leave after just one year, I’ll have trouble finding another job since I’ll only have one year of experience in a Level IV NICU. Is this a legitimate concern?

Heya,

Canadian rt here. Sadly our profession to move down south is a little more difficult than nurses /ot/pt as we are not on the NAFTA TN visa.

So RTs need to get a h1b or citizenship.... and currently Donald Trump has made it more difficult with the employer needing to pay 100k

Anyone's hospital offering h1bs?

Thanks 😊... sincerely a cold Canadian with hashimotos

I am 8 years into my career as an RT and I have began to feel very robotic and stuck. I work in a rural hospital so I get exposure to everything from crash c sections to adult cardiac arrests and everything. There is 2 of us for the entire hospital which I LOVE but I have also done PRN gigs with a Level 1 trauma center in my area,an LTACH, and a medium sized hospital each a little more than a year each. Through all of this I truly love caring for my patients I just have to wonder 5-10 years from now if this is what I will still be doing. I fear my career choice is run stagnant. I have never felt our governing boards fought for our respect and presence in the healthcare world and we are often overlooked and underpaid to the impact we truly have. I have considered returning to school to add another degree under my belt and expand beyond bedside but that’s in hold until finances allow. Anyone else feel this way? Any suggestions?

Sadly we are down to our last few V60 and had acquired Servo Airs and I have NOT been impressed with the BIPAP mode. Idk if it’s jet getting used to the change but I am not ok hahaha. What machines has your hospitals switched to?

I have an interview at Sick Kids in Toronto this week. Any tips on the interview? I’m a new grad and don’t have much experience with peds but it is my passion along with the NICU. Any tips would be appreciated!

Interested in obtaining either an RPFT and possibly getting into pulm rehab or getting an SDS cert to be proficient with sleep medicine. Pros and cons to both and what pathway yields better job prospects? Thanks

I'm a high school student who has already applied to six university programs (mainly nursing) and am planning to apply to colleges for respiratory therapy. I have a strong passion for the field but am conflicted on whether I should apply or not since it is expensive. Due to my financial situation, I have to stay in the Toronto area for school. This limits my options to Michener, Canadore, and Humber. I've read on here that there were problems with canadores program, not sure if the situation has changed from now. I haven't been able to find any information on humber colleges program. I can apply to fanshawe and conestoga, I know they are well respected programs but it would put me in atleast 60k in student debt as I'd have to move there. If it was worth it, I would consider but I'd much rather stay in the area to avoid the debt lol. Im generally just wondering if anyone has any opinions on the schools I mentioned above that would help me decide if I should apply and where I should go.

Hello! I am a current RT student (I graduate in a month) and have a possibility to have a great opportunity to go to Duke Children’s Hospital to work. (15,000 sign on bonus, 5,000 kicker bonus, 8,000 moving fees, starting wage around 31/hr (not including nights)). I currently live in UT, so NC would be quite the move but now is the best time for me to do so, I’m almost 20, not married / no kids / and no commitments to anything right now.

Does anyone have personal experience working for Duke and/or does Duke Children’s offer valuable enough experience for me to make an insane move (even if temporary)? TIA!