What Is a Respiratory Therapist?

Written by Nicole Blades, Marijke Vroomen Durning, RN
Medically Reviewed by Shruthi N, MD on January 21, 2025
6 min read

Respiratory therapists are certified medical professionals who treat problems with your lungs or breathing. They’re not doctors. But they work closely with your doctors to diagnose and monitor your condition.

Respiratory therapists (RTs) handle breathing or airway problems that can stem from a wide variety of conditions and events. They include:

They may work in emergency rooms, intensive care units, outpatient clinics, nursing homes, or sleep centers. Some specialize in working with infants and babies, or with seniors.

Inpatient therapy

The respiratory therapy you need depends largely on whether you’re in a hospital, how seriously ill you are, and the reason behind your breathing issues. If you’re hospitalized, your respiratory therapist may:

  • Intubate you by inserting a tube through your mouth down to your windpipe
  • Monitor your breathing and other vital signs on a ventilator
  • Take your blood to check your oxygen levels and other results
  • Give you medications through mist, dry powder, or other inhalers
  • Consult with your doctors to clear mucus from your lungs or to expand collapsed lungs
  • Test how well your lungs work, including how deeply you can breathe

Outpatient therapy

You may get this if you have an ongoing condition such as COPD. Your therapist may run tests similar to what you’d get at the hospital, including blood oxygen tests and lung function tests like spirometry.

They also will help you understand how best to manage your illness. They may teach you how to:

  • Prevent your symptoms
  • Follow your treatment plan at home
  • Know when you should call your doctor

While RTs are a part of the medical team, they work under the general direction of a doctor. This means you wouldn’t call and make an appointment to see a respiratory therapist on your own. That said, your doctor might refer you to a respiratory therapist if you have any of the following:

  • A cough that won’t go away
  • If you cough up blood but you don’t need emergency treatment
  • Wheezing, a high-pitched sound that you might make when exhaling that isn’t a sign of a serious breathing problem that needs emergency treatment
  • Dyspnea (shortness of breath) that doesn’t need emergency treatment
  • Pain or pressure in your chest that isn’t related to heart problems
  • Abnormal chest X-ray results or blood tests that show your oxygen levels are too low but you don’t need emergency treatment

If you need equipment or devices to help you breathe, a respiratory therapist can teach you how to use and maintain them.

If you have an appointment with a respiratory therapist, your experience may differ from someone else’s, depending on the reasons for your visit.

For example, someone going in for an asthma checkup may have different procedures than people who have lung cancer. Any preparations for your appointment, such as whether you need to stop taking certain medications beforehand, also may depend on your specific medical condition.

Regardless of why you are seeing an RT, the basics of the visit are the same for most people. First, you and the respiratory therapist will talk about why you’ve been referred to see them. After reviewing your medical records and your symptoms, the therapist will likely have more questions for you to clarify the information or to ask about something that isn’t in your file.

Depending on your situation, the respiratory therapist might:

  • Listen to your lungs and do a physical exam
  • Check your blood oxygen level
  • Do a pulmonary function test (to see how well you are breathing)
  • Send blood tests to a lab
  • Explain treatment the doctor ordered
  • Give you treatments
  • Set up and teach you how to use equipment, like how to use an inhaled medication device 
  • Talk to you about your treatment, how you’re responding to it, and if you have any problems with it
  • Refer you back to your doctor if your treatment isn’t working or if you're having concerns

If you’d like to become a respiratory therapist, you will have to follow the guidelines for the state you are in and would like to be licensed in.

Obtain an associate degree, at minimum. You must have at least a two-year associate degree in respiratory therapy, although a bachelor’s degree is better and more places are asking for this over an AD. Be sure that the program you follow is an accredited program so you don’t have problems getting licensed.

Get your credentials. There are two types of licenses you can work toward: the certified respiratory therapist (CRT) license and the registered respiratory therapist (RRT) license. The CRT license is considered an entry-level license, while the RRT is more advanced and may bring you more job opportunities.

Apply for your state license. All states except for Alaska require state licensing to work as a respiratory therapist. You must have this license to be allowed to practice as a respiratory therapist in other states, but not all states have the same requirements. For example, Alabama requires you have a CRT to be licensed, but California requires an RRT. Be sure you know what your state needs for you to be licensed.

Once you're a licensed respiratory therapist, it’s important that you follow your state’s educational and employment requirements to keep that license.

You can also go for advanced RT certification to specialize:

  • CPTF: Certified pulmonary function technologist
  • RPFT: Registered pulmonary function technologist
  • RRT-ACCS: Adult critical care specialist
  • RRT-NPS: Neonatal/pediatric specialist
  • CRT-SDS: Sleep disorders specialist
  • AE-C: Asthma educator specialist

Respiratory therapists are an important part of the medical team who, under a doctor’s supervision or direction, focus on helping patients with respiratory problems. They can work in hospitals, clinics, sleep centers, and other health care facilities. You might work with an RT if you have an acute (short-term) respiratory or pulmonary condition or if you have a chronic illness. 

Can a respiratory therapist intubate someone?

Respiratory therapists can intubate people, but there may be some health care facilities that don’t allow them to, or they may have to pass special certification in the facility before they may do so. 

Where do respiratory therapists work?

Respiratory therapists can work in hospitals, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, sleep centers, and other facilities that can use their skills.

Is a respiratory therapist a doctor?

No, a respiratory therapist isn’t a doctor.

How much do respiratory therapists make?

How much money a respiratory therapist can earn depends on where they live, how long they’ve been working, and where they work. For example, an RT with a specialty who has been working for several years will earn more than an RT who has just begun working without a specialty. 

The states that pay the highest wages, from about $84,000 to $103,000, are:

  • Alaska
  • California
  • Hawaii
  • Nevada
  • Oregon
  • Washington

Those that pay from about $75,000 to $84,000 are:

  • Colorado
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • New Hampshire
  • Ohio
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin

Those that pay from about $70,000 to $75,000 are:

  • Arizona
  • Florida
  • Idaho
  • Kansas
  • Maine
  • Michigan
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina

And those that pay from about $29,000 to $70,000 are:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • New Mexico
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • West Virginia
  • Wyoming

Puerto Rico also pays among the lowest wages.