Respiratory Therapist - RRT (Day Shift) - New Northeast Emergency Department

Job Summary

Performs duties within the scope of respiratory care, to include but not limited to inpatient assessments, oxygen and routine therapy, arterial blood gases, and mechanical ventilation. Outpatient Services to include diagnostic studies and Pulmonary rehab to include patient assessment, planning, intervention, follow-up, evaluation, and discharge planning.

Minimum Qualifications

•Minimum Education: 2 Year Associate's Degree (AMA accredited program for Respiratory Care and registered through the National Board for Respiratory Care)
•Minimum Years of Experience: None
•Substitutable Education & Experience: Associate's Degree may be substituted for active RRT credential through National Board for Respiratory Care, active license through SC LLR, and 10 years of direct experience as a Respiratory Therapist.
•Required Certifications/Licensure: Licensed by the Board of Medical Examiners for the State of South Carolina (biennial renewal required); Infant/Child and  Adult Basic Life Support (BLS) Certified - ACLS for Pulmonary Rehab, Pulmonary Lab, CVICU therapist, and for the Rapid Response Team. (Within six months or first available class).  All Employees assigned to Special Care Nursery must have NRP certification.
•Required Training: None

Essential Functions

•Demonstrates competence to provide developmentally appropriate care/treatment for the following patient populations (vary by area):  Infant (Birth to 1 year); Child (1 year through 12 years); Adolescent (13 years through 17 years); Adult (18 years to 65 years); Geriatric (over 65 years).

•Supervises clinical exercise programs using a variety of tools including telemetry, BP, pulse oximetry, dyspnea scale, and perceived exertion.

•Document participants medical history, care plan (ITP), responses to treatment, progress and complications. Evaluate and report patients’ outcomes including functional capacity, risk reduction, behavior modification, and follow-up assessments to evaluate individual progress and program  effectiveness.      

•Works toward returning patients to previous functional level and having lower risk for future events as well as a better understanding of  disease process.   

•Provides individualized counseling and education to inpatients, outpatients and family members to meet identified needs. Teach group education classes as a part of outpatient pulmonary rehab program. Assist in the development and revision of education materials.

•Performs routine/oxygen therapy, administers medication, follow protocols. Administers specialty gases.         

•Assesses patients in accordance with clinical practice guidelines and makes recommendations to physician for the most appropriate therapy.

•Interprets prescriptions and/or confers with physician to determine requirements for therapy. Accepts verbal respiratory care orders from physician and documents on order sheet.

•Makes adjustments using clinical decision making skills based on response from treatments.

•Performs arterial punctures and draws from arterial lines to obtain blood gas samples. Analyzes samples on blood gas systems and interprets results. Performs routine daily preventive maintenance and QC.

•Performs diagnostic procedures, interprets results and makes recommendations based on set criteria (Example: pulse oximetry, bedside spirometry, flow studies, and peak flows).

•Initiates, monitors, and troubleshoots BIPAP/CPAP systems.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Demonstrates proficiency in assessment and management of the critical care patient. Knowledge of ventilator modalities and their operation.
• Responds to "Code Blues"; performs cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.
• Documents all patient-care related activities in medical record.
• Assists with patient/family education as pertinent to Respiratory Care and documents progress, including patient evaluation, orientation, and follow-up.
• Utilizes, maintains, calibrates and troubleshoots all equipment to ensure proper function.
• Assists in orientation of new personnel, serves as clinical instructor for students, and supervises necessary programs.
• Identifies opportunities for improvement, participates and contributes to the departmental and organizational CQI process.
• Therapists with specialized training may be assigned additional responsibilities upon certification or validation of skills. Adult and geriatric intubations, member of Rapid Response Team, Post op cardiac intensive care and bedside bronchoscopy. 
• Therapists who have demonstrated proper competency attend high-risk neonatal deliveries as a member of the Neonatal Resuscitation Team and provides neonatal respiratory care in the Special Care Nursery.
• Performs pulmonary function test and troubleshoots and maintains arterial blood gas systems.
• Performs Indirect calorimetry measurements.
• Assists with QA data collection and generating reports every other month. Completes all required paperwork as necessary.
• Depending on needs of department, will participate for multidisciplinary rehabilitation staff meetings.
• Performs all other duties as assigned.