Re: Thoughts and Questions Originally Posted by JaredCNA 
I've been working as a CNA for a year now and I have decided that I will go to school for RT while I am on the waiting list for an ADN program. The director of the respiratory care program at our local college told me that with my cert as a CNA, my hospital experience and my 22 credit hours of nursing pre-reqs, i would definitely have no problem starting resp therapy in the fall. But this brings me to a few questions:
1. Why does it seem so easy to get into a resp therapy program?
2. What is the difference between a CRT and an RRT? Do they practice under a different scope? Can one do more than the other?
The CC that offers the resp therapy program says they train students to be competent CRT or RRT in the state of TX.
1. The number of applicants for respiratory school are nowhere near that of nursing school and they are not trying to weed anyone out.
2. CRT is a certified respiratory therapist and is sometimes considered entry level; kind of like an LPN. RRT is a registered respiratory therapist and is considered more advanced. Most places do not distinguish between a CRT or RRT and will allow them the same duties. There are places, like my hospital, where there is a pay difference and difference in what they can do. For example a CRT who is not able to take the registry exam cannot intubate or manage the ventilator whereas an RRT can.
3. Respiratory Therapists have only been recognized as such for about 60 years. Nursing has ben recognized for a lot longer than that, but Respiratory is still a great field and depending on where you work you could have a lot of autonomy and experience quite a bit of different things. The only thing is that the field is somewhat limited while in nursing your opportunities are vast.
I hope this helps.
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