I just wanted to clear up a few things regarding nursing and respiratory therapy. First, respiratory therapy school, and nursing school are equally hard. Having experienced both, I can say that from experience. If you obtain your resp. Therapy degree from a university, there is actually one more class prerequisite class required before you get into a respiratory therapy program (chemistry) I'm talking an associates degree, not BSN, or BRT. The prerequisites other than that are exactly the same where I went.
Both professions are equally important, just in different ways. Nurses have a set number of patients (usually too many) assigned to them. They are responsible for the patient as a whole. They make sure they have all their medications, make sure every order a physician gives is carried out, make sure all their patient's requests are addressed properly, etc.
I see see a lot of forums where nurses bash respiratory therapists, and respiratory therapists bash nurses. This is very counterproductive in my opinion. Both are valuable members of the team. I hear both nurses, and respiratory therapists say they can do the others job. Respiratory therapists are NOT trained in nursing, and do NOT possess the skills the nurses have learned in school, and on the job it's just a fact. By the same token nurses CANNOT do respiratory therapies job. As, they don't know as much about the respiratory system, as respiratory therapists do. I know because I learned more in the first month of respiratory therapy school about the respiratory system than I did in nursing school period. That's not to say nurses don't know about the respiratory system, I just mean respiratory therapists go into a lot more depth seeing as how that's the system they focus on for the full 2 years.
On the subject of which job is harder. I think they are both equally hard, but in different ways. Neither get many breaks, if a break at all. While nurses have multiple patients to care for in one area, respiratory therapists care for multiple patients all over the hospital.
The purpose of this post is to just inform, and clear up any confusion between the two, and also in the hope that both professions can appreciate what the other brings to the healthcare team. We are not enemies, we are allies with one goal, and that's to care for patients to the best of our abilities.
That's exactly the additude she was talking about.nurses don't do everything in European countries.they have respiratory societies over there.do some real research..they call them physiotherapy that's not the same as a nurse.some one always has to stick their chest out.please give it a rest..don't mess up such a nice post..
tmw73
63 Posts
Great understanding.very unbias.thats how it should be.i would work with you anytime..