Need Advise From Those In Health Care...

brian_igo · #1 10-06-2002, 09:08 AM

I'm going to make a career change. Aw, hell...I'm going to try having a career for the first time. (My resume to this point looks more like a careen

)

But I digress. I'm leaning towards respiratory therapy. Last year my mom was diagnosed with COPD with emphyzema and through her treatment I've gotten to know a bit about it. The money seems good and its a two-year program.

I'd appreciate any comments, suggestions, advise or dire warnings from anyone who knows anything about RT.

Brian

magenta321 · #2 10-06-2002, 09:59 AM

The money seems to be good.

Just know what you are getting into. You'll have a lot of very sick and dying patients under your care. It can be very emotionally draining.

If you are right for that sort of profession, it's great. But, if you don't think that you could handle it, I'd personally stay away.

Do you know any Respritory Therapists? Perhaps they can tell you better than I could. We just used to see them when the really sick patients would come down for MRIs and would have to be disconnected from the machines for the test. People come down with some scary things on them. The one I called the "water bong" was particularly scary. Every breathe they took sounded like they were taking a hit off of a water bong, and they were attached to this big water container and all these scary looking things.

Ack. Sorry.

Personal bias, I'd look into being an X-Ray tech. Beginning techs start at about $18 an hour, and experienced techs makes about $30 an hour. It's a two-year program. They are in demand. If you can get into MRI or Ultrasound in addition to being an X-Ray tech, you can write your ticket any where. MRI techs make between $35-$50 an hour. If they are willing to travel, they can make $60 an hour in NYC.

The program isn't too bad. You learn how to take X-rays. It's a classroom setting, with manditory "hands-on" training, usually in an ER. When you graduate, you will be an X-Ray tech. Most facilities will want to cross-train you in CT, MRI, US, or R&F. There is plenty of full-time work to be found, and lots of per diem work to be picked up on the side.

The downsides -- ER techs see a lot of blood and guts, and child abuse. OR techs see more blood and guts, and have a doctor standing over them telling them what to do. CT and MRI techs have a lot of regular patients that they get to know well who are dying. Eventually, a lot of them do die. It hurts.

Sorry. Not what you asked, but just another opportunity in the medical field that I think is a good one.

**MrsNormanMaine**[$] · #3 10-06-2002, 01:33 PM

RT isn't a bad program and there's a need for good RTs. On the down side, you have to deal with a lot of body fluids and a lot of very sick patients on ventilators. Get some exposure to that to make sure it doesn't bother you before committing.

MNM !queen

**conradd** · #4 10-07-2002, 04:35 PM

Brian, I don't know anything about RT but utter lack of knowledge has never stopped me from expressing an opinion on anything.

If you're interested in health care, is there a 2-year RN program at a local community college? Check out the salary differential between RT and RN - you can always specialize in respiratory disease if you're interested, but you might make more as an RN and the demand is high. How's the demand for RTs?

Deb

sleeper54 · #5 10-07-2002, 05:15 PM

.
Check out all the medical fields...to include physical therapy and medical technology.

All medical fields should be growth fields, especially those that impact elder care...:-)

...tom...

brian_igo · #6 10-08-2002, 02:32 AM

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

Margaret, I would have a harder time working radiology than RT. I financed mistresses for a couple of orthopedists when I was a kid, and getting x-rays was always the worst part of it.

The pay for sonogramists did make me pause (and dropped my jaw to the floor...thirty bucks an hour to start plus signing bonuses) but there wouldn't be enough money in the world on the days when the job meant discovering a birth defect. I can handle death, but that would break my heart.

Oh, and the "water bong" humidifies the oxygen to help keep the mouth and lips moist. Its a huge help, especially when a patient is on assisted breathing like a BiPap.

Ms. N-M, You are absolutely correct. From what I've seen the RT doesn't get involved in treatment until the patient is hospitalized for whatever their breathing disorder is, and that is usually when they are very sick.

Its one of the things that frustrated me most when my mom was sick last year. I made the analogy to one of her RT's that this was like if you tore your ACL and the only time you get to see a Physical Therapist is when you keep coming back to the hospital because the damn thing won't heal properly.

Respiratory disease is a life-changing event, and from what I've seen how well a patient does depends in great part on the strength of their support system and how well they understand the ramifications of their diagnosis.

Deb, I haven't seen a two-year RN program around here. And I say this with the greatest respect for the RN's here, but I couldn't do that. Its not the patient work that would bother me. I know some RN's and those who work in hospitals stay in the job only out of a sense of duty to their patients. Nurses get used to fill a lot of holes in the dyke, and I'd like to have a little specialization to insulate me from that.

And regarding pay...both RN's and RT's start at $19/HR at the hospitals I've checked out in Oregon. RN's with specialty training make more, but that gets into the territory of a masters degree.

Tom, the age issue was one of the things I was looking at. Looking at the career demand, the upside for an RT is huge. I'm getting the idea from people in the field that I've talked to that getting into RT now is a little like computer sciences was in the eighties. Its not well known now, but the trends are saying that won't be the case for long.

Again to everyone, thanks for the support and questions. Hope no one feels they wasted their time because it sounds like I already made up my mind.

Brian

**jgibson2**[$] · #7 10-08-2002, 11:54 PM

Brian,
There are RT's doing home care in addition to those working in hospitals. The patients aren't generally as sick, but the responsibility is enormously greater as you usually see the patient alone -- but other healthcare professionals are also involved. Just not at the same time. Home care generally requires several years of in hospital experience, though.

One thing you can count on it RT is job security -- perhaps not the particular job, as those can end, but another will always be waiting. If anything, there is a greater shortage of RT's than RN's.