Respiratory Therapist jobs has currently increased with the growing population and decrease in air quality which gives it a stand in the market. With the rapid rate of industrialization and deteriorating quality of air, it comes as little to no surprise that respiratory diseases are on the rise.

And in case you are not satisfied, then what other jobs can a respiratory therapist do? Well, there is quite a lot. One of the most famous options is the traveling respiratory therapist job. One can also have a look at online medical school for further information.

So with that being said, let us now take a look at how you can take advantage of this growing market. Along with this, we will also discuss the basic eligibility for the jobs and the mostly searched question “respiratory therapist jobs near me”. With that being said, let us begin.

Respiratory therapist jobs
Respiratory Therapist Jobs

Respiratory Therapist Jobs – Basic eligibility

Every profession has some basic requirements that one has to fulfill in order to be eligible for a job. In that vein, the basic eligibility for respiratory therapist jobs is as follows –

  1. Associate’s degree (2 years course)
  2. Bachelor’s degree (4 years course)
  3. CRT certification

One thing to note here is that you can opt for either an Associate’s degree or a Bachelor’s degree. Having both of them is kind of redundant and not required. So, just look for respiratory therapist programs and apply for whichever one you prefer.

Respiratory Therapy – Cost of education

Now that we have talked about the basic eligibility, let us now take a look at the cost of education you want to pursue for respiratory therapist jobs. Before we proceed, keep in mind that the costs are in estimates. Different colleges and schools will have a different fee structure. The cost of education for respiratory therapy will also differ from state to state. So one also opt for respiratory therapist schools near me according to their convenience. With that being said, let us take a look –

  1. Associate’s degree

a. Traditional education – 15,000 USD per semester

b. Online education – 4,000 USD per semester

  1. Bachelor’s degree

a. Traditional education – 30,000 USD per semester

b. Online education – 11,000 USD per semester

Overall, these are the degrees that you will require in respiratory therapist jobs and their costs for you to be eligible in this field. If you eagerly want to draw yourself in this field then have a brief analysis on respiratory therapist education.

Travelling Respiratory Therapist jobs

Suppose you get your degree and apply for the jobs out there. However, for some reason, you do not find them appealing, then the question that arises is what other respiratory therapist jobs can you do? Well, you needn’t worry about that. Because we got a whole slew of other career options for you!

  1. Adult Critical Care Specialists
  2. Neonatal Respiratory Care Specialist
  3. Pediatric Respiratory Care Specialist
  4. Sleep Disorder Testing and Therapeutic Intervention Respiratory Care Specialist
  5. Respiratory Home care practices

In order to enter these professions, you will still need to meet the basic respiratory therapist qualifications. However, there is enough variation here for one to not feel stagnated or trapped in a bubble.

In case you are someone who wants to travel or wants a job that requires quite a bit of traveling, then there are traveling ones as well.

Travelling respiratory therapist jobs will still be quite similar to a normal respiratory therapist’s. However, rather than working in a hospital or a clinic, you will mostly be working with travel recruiters. Here, you would still be performing the same duties as a regular respiratory therapist; however, you would be traveling across the length and breadth of the country.

All in all, a job as a traveling respiratory therapist is quite an exciting prospect. The constant travel will keep things fresh and bring you in contact with new people. As a result, new opportunities will always be available to you.

What other jobs can a Respiratory Therapist do
What other jobs can a Respiratory Therapist do

What other jobs can a Respiratory Therapist do?

Now, let us check a little bit more about what other respiratory therapist jobs option you can have for yourself.

  • Adult Critical Care Specialists

Most of your work as an Adult Critical Care specialist will be in intensive care. However, in order to do this, you will need to be a Registered Respiratory Therapist. This mainly because you need a lot more knowledge and experience in order to get the job done here. So if you are planning to do this, be prepared for a few more exams.

  • Neonatal Respiratory Care therapist

Since the population is ever increasing, the demand for Neonatal respiratory care therapists is only said to go up. If you do opt to go down this route, you will mostly be working in children’s hospitals. Most of your patients will be infants who had complications during birth or are suffering from malnutrition or pulmonary diseases.

  • Pediatric Respiratory Care therapist

The work of a Pediatric Respiratory Care therapist is quite similar to that of a Neonatal Respiratory Care therapist. Here too you will mostly be working in a children’s hospital. However, the marked difference between these two respiratory therapist jobs here will be that you will mostly be dealing with toddlers and young, prepubescent kids.

  • Sleep Disorder Testing and Therapeutic Intervention Respiratory Care Specialist

In order to go down this road, you will need to clear an additional exam. NBRC-SDS certification, you can practice in this field without any hassle. Your main job here will be to conduct sleep studies and help patients with sleep disorders. The demand for Sleep Disorder Testing and Therapeutic Intervention Respiratory Care Specialist has been increasing for some time now.

  • Respiratory Home care practices

In this line of work, you will mostly be providing equipment to people with chronic respiratory problems. Plus, you may also have to help patients out with pain management over other things. The one good thing about this is that if you decide to go solo in this field, you can quite easily start a business venture.

So as you can see, there is quite a lot of variety of what other jobs can a respiratory therapist do that you can think for your career ahead.

Licencing

In order to get a license and start practicing as a certified respiratory therapist salary, you will need to give the Certified Respiratory Therapist exam. Once you have done that, you will be eligible to work in hospitals, clinics, etc.

In case you are not satisfied with the offerings available to you after giving your CRT, you can always work towards a Registered Respiratory Therapist certification. This will open up a lot of special opportunities in respiratory therapist jobs for you. However, keep in mind that the course work that needs to do in order to achieve an RRT is quite advanced.

Respiratory Therapist jobs near me

Let us say that instead of branching out, you stick to the core. Then, what are the career growth opportunities that will be available near to you? Well, let us take a stock of that.

If you are a respiratory therapist who specializes in home care and looking for respiratory therapist jobs near you, then you can quite simply start your own home care equipment service. You can even do a side jump and move into marketing or research advancement. Or if you are someone who is more interested in the academic side of things, then you can easily find teaching or research jobs in colleges and universities. But always remember having a respiratory therapist degree will surely open many doors for you.

In case you want to stay within the hospital superstructure, you can easily move up the chain and become a hospital administrator or department head or supervisor. In case you are from the more ambitious bunch, then you can easily work your way towards management. However, for that, you will need a lot more education in the relevant fields.

Overall, there is immense scope for career growth in respiratory therapist jobs and advancement as a respiratory therapist. It all boils down to how much you are willing to work and how well qualified you are. As long as you meet the eligibility standards, there is nothing that can stop you and also you can easily find out therapist jobs near you.

Certified Respiratory Therapist Salary
Certified Respiratory Therapist Salary

Respiratory Therapist Salary – Financial Scenario

In today’s day and age, money talks. So unless and until you are someone who is extremely passionate about becoming a respiratory therapist, you should know how much you are going to earn at the end of the day. So with that being said, let us take a look at the money being minted as a respiratory therapist –

  1. Average earning per year – 60,000 USD per year
  2. Average earning per year after 1 year of experience – 20,000 USD per year
  3. Average earning of top 10% respiratory therapists – 75,000 USD per year

Please keep in mind that these salaries regarding respiratory therapist jobs are taken into account on the presumption that you will be completing a Bachelor’s degree. The median earnings will go down a bit if you opt for the Associate’s program. However, over time, both courses will lead to the same earning pattern. The only difference will be the amount of time spent in reaching that point.

Another thing to note here that, as per statistics, over the last decade or so, the average income of a respiratory therapist has grown by close to 30%. This growth trend is expected to continue with time.

When you couple these things with other factors such as independence from market fluctuations and ever expanding service sector, the whole prospect becomes doubly appealing. The cherry on top of all this is that we still haven’t touched upon all the prospective branching that you can do here.

Now before we begin, it would be fair to remind you that there are hundreds of respiratory therapist jobs available once you get started. So, it won’t be feasible for us to cover all of them. What we will be doing here is to discuss the income one can earn from the aforementioned other jobs you can do once you become a certified respiratory therapist. So, let us get started –

  1. Adult Critical Care Specialists – 75,000 USD per year
  2. Neonatal Respiratory Care Specialist – 65,000 USD per year
  3. Pediatric Respiratory Care Specialist – 72,000 USD per year
  4. Sleep Disorder Testing and Therapeutic Intervention Respiratory Care Specialist – 260,000 USD per year
  5. Respiratory Homecare practices – 66,000 USD per year

Please do keep in mind that these salaries provided are based on averages. These figures will differ from state to state and place employment.

Now, if you are someone who doesn’t want to make such a drastic change yet wants to have some variation, then you can always go to work as a traveling respiratory therapist. In travelling respiratory therapist jobs, you will be able to earn somewhere between 55,000 USD to 60,000 USD per year.

With that being said, the salary will only increase once you move up the chain of command. And in case you want to do a solo practice, then that too is quite a lucrative option. As a solo practitioner, you can earn anywhere between 70,000 USD to 80,000 USD.

The perks of doing this are quite a lot. For starters, you will be your own boss and will be able to make your own hours. On the other hand, you may not remain so invulnerable to market fluctuations as before. So before you start your professional journey, it would be a wise decision to take stock of everything. Also you can get a detailed information on respiratory therapist salary by clicking on the same.

Respiratory Therapy
Respiratory Therapy

With all of this being said, let us now do a quick recap on respiratory therapy that you learned so far. The field of respiratory therapists is ever expanding with lucrative financial propositions. Once you get inside, it is quite easy to move up the chain of command and make substantial financial gains.

Plus, since this field of work comes under the medical sector, it is relatively immune to market fluctuations. So while being financially rewarding, it is extremely stable in terms of making respiratory therapist jobs stable. And if you are someone who finds all of this a little too mundane, then there are always options for you to branch out.

In order to become a professional, the requirements and eligibility criteria are pretty attainable and affordable. And since there are a lot of areas of specializations involved, there is a lot of variety in job offerings as well. Overall, if you are someone who is passionate about this or is here for the money, then this is quite a good field for you to enter in.

With all of this being said, if you are someone who is enrolled in a respiratory therapist program, then we hope that you found our listings useful. And in case you need any help in applying for these respiratory therapist jobs, then feel free to approach us. We are always here and more than willing to help! Also find us at online schools near me for more information.