Registered nurse vs Respiratory Therapist

[thongvo89]

I've been wondering which career is better between these two Registered nurse (4 years college) vs Respiratory Therapist (4 years college). In term of:

1. Salary

2. Advancement for higher job

3. School wise (classes, tests, etc which is harder)

4. Job satisfaction

P.s : I heard that RT rarely get any chance for advancement which mean once I become RT my salary will be stay around 50,000 a year for the rest of my life.

How about Register nurse (associate degree) vs Respiratory Therapist (associate degree) also.

1. Salary

2. Advancement for higher job

3. School wise (classes, tests, etc which is harder)

4. Job satisfaction

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

Well, I dont know the details but I can say this......most of the RTs on the night shift at my hospital are male. I talk to them a lot about work related things.......how we ended up doing what we do.

More often than not, I find myself wishing I had gone their route.

[silentRN]

I like being an RN. I work with RT's a lot too because I work in the ICU. I wouldn't work as an RN outside of critical care. I've done floor nursing before and it sucked really bad.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

I like being an RN. I work with RT's a lot too because I work in the ICU. I wouldn't work as an RN outside of critical care. I've done floor nursing before and it sucked really bad.

You can say that again. More and more, I realize I am doing everything myself anyway, may as well get over to the ICU where the ratios reflect it. They just raised ratios on my unit, and the consequences are coming in abundance: falls, I/O's not done, doctors flipping out cause no one helps them when they want it. But hey, they saved two dollars so I guess all is good.