Occupation
Respiratory therapist
Respiratory therapists manage patients' breathing — ventilators, oxygen therapy, airway management, and pulmonary diagnostics. They are core members of intensive care, emergency, and anaesthesia teams and are often present at resuscitations and intubations. The role carries direct responsibility for equipment on which a patient's life immediately depends.
Also known as: Respiratory care practitioner · Respiratory therapy technologist · Cardiopulmonary technologist
Occupation content
Part of Healthcare and clinical services
What the work involves
- Set up, adjust, and troubleshoot mechanical ventilators against the clinical target.
- Assess oxygenation and ventilation using blood gases, saturation, and clinical signs.
- Manage airways and assist with intubation, extubation, and tracheostomy care.
- Deliver aerosol and oxygen therapies and check that the patient tolerates them.
- Perform pulmonary function and diagnostic testing and report the results.
- Respond to codes and rapid-response calls as the airway and ventilation specialist.
How people commonly enter
- A respiratory therapy diploma or degree programme at a college, institute, or university.
- A cardiopulmonary or anaesthesia-assistant programme recognised for respiratory practice.
- A credential-assessment and examination route for therapists qualified in another jurisdiction.
Typical training: Certificate or college diploma
Licensing: Regulated in most jurisdictions — confirm the current requirement with the regulator in your province, state, or country.
Typical work context
Team based · Fast paced · Shift work · High responsibility · Public facing
Related interests
Realistic (hands-on) · Investigative (analytical) · Social (helping)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Healthcare and clinical services.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- O*NET OnLine — Respiratory Therapists (29-1126.00) · United States
Link checked
- Canada Job Bank — Explore an occupation (search: respiratory therapist) · Canada
Link checked
- ESCO — Occupations classification (European Commission) · European Union
Link checked
Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Healthcare and clinical services in Canada, not a figure for Respiratory therapist. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Healthcare and clinical services family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Healthcare and clinical services: education pathways
Some roles in Healthcare and clinical services may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Healthcare and clinical services: licensing
Find jobs
These are live, user-controlled searches on each source's own site for “ Respiratory therapist”. Novus Learn does not fetch, store, or rank these results, and job availability never changes your exploration match score.
- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
- Search USAJOBS · United States federal
- Search EURES · European Union / EEA
- Search Indeed · International (choose location on Indeed)