Is there such thing as respiratory nursing?

Why didn't they just make respiratory a specialty of nursing and instead created a whole new field for it with respiratory therapists?

It depends where you work. In my large teaching hospital, there is a floor where patients with respiratory issues stay. In smaller places you will find these patients in a general medicine floor.

Pneumonia is a common problem, especially with the many elderly patients I used to work with. COPD and complications from CHF factor in as well. Respiratory problems that get a person admitted are often one of many cormorbidities. It is all med-surg nursing.

RT really came into practice in the early days of ventilators. They were complex pieces of machinery that were not user friendly, kind of like the earliest computers.

Yes there is a nursing specialty for pulmonary nursing. What the RRT does is completely different from nursing responsibilities.

[h=2]Pulmonary Nursing[/h]