What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called cardiopulmonary rehabilitation respiratory therapist, certified respiratory therapist, CRT and hospital respiratory therapist.
$82,280
Median pay a year
139,790
People do this work
6
Resume lines ready for you
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An example
A Respiratory Therapist resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Testing heart or lung function
Monitoring activities
Implementing life support techniques
Assisting healthcare practitioners
Training patients
Training medical providers
Gathering medical histories
Verifying medical activities or operations
Examining medical instruments
Determining medical protocols
Cleaning medical equipment and facilities
Moving patients
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Respiratory Therapist
1 certification
Summary
Respiratory therapist assessing, treating, and caring for patients with breathing disorders, managing respiratory care modalities and supervising therapy technicians while conducting therapeutic procedures and maintaining patient records
Experience
Respiratory Therapist
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Provided emergency care, such as artificial respiration and assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Monitored patient's physiological responses to therapy and consulted with physician if adverse reactions occurred
Set up and operated devices, such as mechanical ventilators and therapeutic gas administration apparatus, following specified parameters of treatment
Worked as part of a team of healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures
Maintained charts containing patients' pertinent identification and therapy information
Educated patients and their families about their conditions and taught appropriate disease management techniques
Performed endotracheal intubation to maintain open airways for patients who were unable to breathe on their own
Skills
Checking & Planning
Testing heart or lung function, Examining medical instruments, Determining medical protocols
Core Skills
Monitoring activities, Gathering medical histories, Verifying medical activities or operations
Working With People
Implementing life support techniques, Assisting healthcare practitioners
Leading & Coordinating
Training patients, Training medical providers
Education
Certificate Your training program, Year
Certifications & Licenses
State license for this work Your state board, Year
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
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What to put on a Respiratory Therapist resume
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What did you do each day?
Choose what fits, or say your own.
Provided emergency care, including artificial respirationMonitored patient's physiological responses to therapySet up and operated mechanical ventilators and devicesCollaborated with healthcare professionals on patient careMaintained charts with patients' therapy informationExplained treatment procedures to patients for cooperation
becomes
On your resume
Provided emergency respiratory care, including artificial respiration and advanced life support techniques
Set up and operated mechanical ventilators and therapeutic devices to support patient breathing
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Make it stronger
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Show what improved once the emergency care was given
The line
Provided emergency respiratory care, leading to improved oxygen levels in patients after treatment
Show what improved once the emergency care was given
Pick one that fits
Patients showed better oxygen levels after treatmentPatient recovery rates improved with timely care
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Add how often you set up and operated these devices
The line
Set up and operated mechanical ventilators and therapeutic devices to support patient breathing
Add how often you set up and operated these devices
Pick one that fits
Several devices each shiftMost of the patients' ventilators dailyMultiple devices for various patients
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What a Respiratory Therapist does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care modalities, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians. Initiate and conduct therapeutic procedures; maintain patient records; and select, assemble, check, and operate equipment.
What it pays
How much does a Respiratory Therapist make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$74,520
Median
$82,280
75th percentile
$98,730
About 139,790 people do this work in the United States.
What you can already claim as a Respiratory Therapist
Below are the tasks a Respiratory Therapist job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
You can already claim 4 of the 9 tasks this job is made of.
What you have not done yet. Training patients, Training medical providers, Gathering medical histories
Your resume, already started
Respiratory Therapist
Testing heart or lung function
Monitoring activities
Implementing life support techniques
Assisting healthcare practitioners
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This page is about the occupation Respiratory Therapists. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.