Resp. Therapy

[sockov, ADN, ASN, BSN, CNA, LVN]

What all does the Resp. therapy do at your work?

What treatments? Draw ABG's, do oral care, change tape? etc.

Thanks.

[lowski]

What all does the Resp. therapy do at your work?

What treatments? Draw ABG's, do oral care, change tape? etc.

Thanks.

They do everything to Intubate to insert Art Lines...Ventilators...PFT's...IPPB(that's right..I said that) to nebs...EKG's..HOlters...TMT's..Event Monitors and EEG's.

We do it all....

[bellehill, RN]

nebs, assist in intubations, suctioning, ABG's if the RN can't make the stick, transport with portable vents....I think that is it.

[RNforLongTime]

At my facility, the RT's manage vents, draw ABG's, administer nebs, give puffers if the pt is on a vent, otherwise that's a nursing responsibility. Some of the RT's can intubate but usually a CRNA student does that as there's a School of Nurse Anesthesia in my hospital. Off shifts the RT does EKG's for the floors..in the Unit we get our own.

[sway]

Our RTs do the usual stuff, vent management, ABGs, suctioning. The thing that disspoints me is that they don't do oral care or change trach dressings on our rare trached patients. Frequently I see them sitting in their break room reading the paper and listening to music. I know that they work hard sometimes, and I really value their skills. I am certainly not skilled enough to run a vent. On the other hand, by their reaction you would think I'm trying to start WW III by changing the FiO2 on my vent!

[talaxandra]

This is why I love allnurses - ways of practice vary so widely :)

We don't have RTs down here - nurses do all that care, except intubation.

[PJMommy]

Our RTs do vent management, give nebs, CPAP and percussion, and will intubate only if CRNA or anesthesiologist is totally unavailable (which is rare). RNs do all ABG draws, suctioning, trach care, oral care, change tape/ties. Only the docs do art line insertion.

Around here, our RTs are very short-staffed and not enough RTs around to fill open positions - much worse so than RNs - so there is no way they could do any more than they already do.

[Super RT]

I work in a children's hospital. In the NICU, we go to all c-sections, preemie births, and fetal distress births. We manage vents, draw blood gases (including art sticks) treatments, intubate, and help residents learn to intubate. In the PICU we manage vents, draw blood gases (including art sticks), treatments, and assist in intubations. If a patient has a trach, we are usually the ones to do the trach change. We are working on getting to place art lines, but since we are a teaching hosp, the residents come first in this. I personally do oral care and nasal care. We suction, do tape changes, and some trach care. For some reason, we don't always do the trach care. If I have time and it needs to be done, I will do it, but it's not a routine RT practice.

[ECMOismygame]

I work in a children's hospital. In the NICU, we go to all c-sections, preemie births, and fetal distress births. We manage vents, draw blood gases (including art sticks) treatments, intubate, and help residents learn to intubate. In the PICU we manage vents, draw blood gases (including art sticks), treatments, and assist in intubations. If a patient has a trach, we are usually the ones to do the trach change. We are working on getting to place art lines, but since we are a teaching hosp, the residents come first in this. I personally do oral care and nasal care. We suction, do tape changes, and some trach care. For some reason, we don't always do the trach care. If I have time and it needs to be done, I will do it, but it's not a routine RT practice.

awesome....coming from a future RT