Skills
Respiratory Therapist Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in respiratory therapists, and how to build and show them.
Respiratory Therapists need technical skills such as mechanical ventilation management, arterial blood gas sampling and interpretation, and aerosol and oxygen therapy, plus people skills like calm under pressure and teamwork. They also use tools such as Mechanical ventilators and BiPAP and CPAP machines.
Technical (hard) skills
- Mechanical ventilation management
- Arterial blood gas sampling and interpretation
- Aerosol and oxygen therapy
- Airway management
- Pulmonary function testing
- Patient assessment
People (soft) skills
- Calm under pressure
- Teamwork
- Critical thinking
- Patient education
Tools, equipment and technology
- Mechanical ventilators
- BiPAP and CPAP machines
- Nebulizers and metered-dose inhalers
- Blood gas analyzers
- Pulse oximeters and capnography monitors
- Spirometers
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how respiratory therapists put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Mechanical ventilation management” and “Arterial blood gas sampling and interpretation.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “calm under pressure,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our respiratory therapist glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Respiratory Therapist training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.