Respiratory Therapist

Winnipeg Regional Health Authority•Brandon, FL

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Under the direction of the Care Team Manager, the Respiratory Therapist works closely with hospital staff and provides leadership, knowledge, and advice on therapeutic and diagnostic principles and technical skills. The therapist sets up, operates, and assesses respiratory therapy equipment, modifying it as required to ensure patient safety and optimum care. The role includes advisory, technical, clinical, and diagnostic responsibilities. The therapist consults with medical and nursing staff, supports home-care respiratory patients, maintains and troubleshoots equipment, performs quality-control procedures, assesses and treats patients, manages mechanical ventilation, and conducts diagnostic tests. The therapist also participates in emergency response, patient transport, airway management, ventilator weaning and extubation, and hemodynamic monitoring. The position is based at Prairie Mountain Health’s Brandon Regional Health Centre. It is a 1.0 FTE position with 11.625-hour shifts and an anticipated day and night shift schedule. The therapist is required to be on call when scheduled and may be called back to the hospital, providing 24-hour daily coverage for respiratory services.

Requirements

Be eligible for and maintain licensure to practice as a respiratory therapist in Manitoba.
Hold certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, or the Neonatal Resuscitation Program.
Have extensive knowledge of departmental procedures and techniques to operate or assist in department areas and analyze technical procedures and problems.
Have specialized knowledge and ability in quality control and standards of respiratory care.
Demonstrate leadership, teaching, and self-improvement qualities.
Be able to provide input and planning in a clinical setting.
Demonstrate written and oral communication skills.
Be able to prioritize in a changing environment.
Have strong organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
Be able to exercise independent judgment.
Be able to respect and promote a culturally diverse population and confidentiality.
Be able to perform the duties of the position regularly.
Be available for scheduled on-call coverage and call-back to the hospital as required.
Undergo a Criminal Records Check, including vulnerable sector screening, an Adult Abuse Registry Check, and a Child Abuse Registry Check; the successful candidate is responsible for any associated service charges.

Responsibilities

Provide consultation to new medical and nursing staff on respiratory clinical applications when requested.
Provide input and follow-up for home-care respiratory patients, their families, and their physicians.
Evaluate and advise on new respiratory and related equipment.
Perform functional checks, repairs, troubleshooting, calibration, maintenance, and quality-control procedures on respiratory and related equipment; document work performed.
Provide emergency repair backup in the operating room for anesthetic equipment breakdowns and repair home-care respiratory equipment as required.
Clean, dry, reassemble, check, and package respiratory equipment for gassing.
Instruct and demonstrate respiratory therapy procedures and devices to patients and staff.
Work with medical and nursing staff to plan respiratory therapy and patient management.
Attend ICU rounds and initiate ventilator-management plans in consultation with the ICU physician.
Assess respiratory status, chart findings, perform diagnostic tests, and administer therapeutic procedures.
Assist with planning long- and short-term air or ground transportation for high-risk patients; determine equipment requirements and adapt equipment to individual patient needs.
Set up, modify, adjust, monitor, and manage life-support mechanical ventilation.
Participate in the Code Blue resuscitation team and respond to Code Blue calls; intubate, ventilate, and obtain and analyze arterial blood gas samples as required.
Instruct patients in the proper use of self-administered respiratory therapy devices and provide follow-up instruction as needed.
Keep current with changes in respiratory-care techniques and equipment and participate in seminars and workshops.
Be on call when scheduled and return to the hospital if required to provide daily 24-hour respiratory-services coverage.
Perform diagnostic procedures, assess respiratory conditions and responses to drugs and therapy, and interpret results and suggest appropriate measures to correct abnormal results.
Draw arterial, capillary, arterial-line, cord, and scalp samples on a 24-hour basis.
Conduct lung-function testing, report results to medical staff, obtain oxygen assessments, and advise on appropriate oxygen therapy.
Perform sleep-monitoring studies.
Obtain electrocardiograms throughout the hospital during evenings and nights when the ECG Technologist is absent, and promptly report life-threatening cardiac abnormalities.
Perform airway management, including permanent tracheostomy changes, tracheal lavage, suctioning, and sterile insertion of a clean tracheostomy tube.
Insert arterial lines in critical-care situations under the supervision of an ICU physician or anesthetist.
Maintain ventilatory support, airway patency, oxygen administration, and suction during air and ground ambulance transports, including emergency intubation and bagging if needed.
Wean patients from ventilators, extubate them, monitor blood gases and stability off ventilator support, and prepare for emergency intubation if their condition deteriorates.
Apply hemodynamic monitoring knowledge and calculate and apply respiratory-mechanics analysis for mechanically ventilated patients.