POSITION SUMMARY
The Lead Respiratory Therapist is an individual trained in the technical aspects of respiratory care and will exhibit those skills and deliver modalities of respiratory therapy, emergent and intensive respiratory care, and diagnostic procedures. The Lead RT will assist the Cardiopulmonary Manager with daily clinical operation, coordinates and supervises clinical and technical services provided and provides direct patient care consistent with the caseload and schedule demands. Assist in conducting meetings, development and/or revisions of policy and procedure, chairs and/or participates on committees within the department. The Lead RT appropriately and courteously communicates with staff, patient and visitors; may work rotating schedule of days, nights, weekends, and/or holidays plus occasional overtime and on-call.
ESSENTIONAL FUNCTIONS
- Responsible for the overall respiratory care given by therapist in the Cardiopulmonary Department. Acts as a resource person and adviser for all other units where Respiratory Therapists are employed or where respiratory therapy procedures are performed by other competent, cross-trained caregivers. Assist the Manager in monitoring staff performance and ensures proper documentations of procedures performed; acts as Cardiopulmonary Manager in his/her absence.
- Supervises, performs and/or act as the resource person for all diagnostic procedures (PFT, EKG, ETT, Urea Breath Testing, Holter Monitoring, etc.) and Respiratory Therapy procedures as outlined in respiratory therapist job description.
- Makes frequent rounds of all patient-care areas and will be available for problems, assesses equipment utilization and availability, obtains reports on patient care activities and assesses workloads (i.e., types of patients, problems, etc.).
- Communicates to the department manager any suggestions, information and/or problems associated with the administrative, clinical and/or technical management of departmental operations. Investigates, identify causative agents and contributing factors to all incidents and takes corrective action as appropriate. Communicates with physicians, nursing service and other departments as necessary to follow up problems, resolve conflicts and provide for proper utilization of service. Suggests modalities of care to physicians and contact physicians as necessary. Provides for patient follow-up to ensure desired results and continuum of care.
- Ensures compliance with established lines of authority and informs the department manager of any changes or deviations from established policy and procedure.
- Orients and instructs present and new technicians, therapists and house staff to the technical and clinical aspects of respiratory care in-patient and outpatient care areas. Ensures the proper orientation of all in Respiratory Department such as appropriate department orientation competency checklist to meet accrediting and certification standards.
- Responds to all Codes and STAT calls in accordance with established department and hospital policy. Directs and ensures prompt mobilization of designated respiratory therapy personnel and equipment during triage and emergency procedures. Monitors staff performance lends assistance as needed and ensure proper recording of services performed and generate charges appropriately.
- Administer volume oriented intermittent positive pressure breathing therapy (IPPB); chest physical therapy (CPT) i.e., percussion, vibration and postural drainage; aerosol therapy; and incentive spirometry therapy. Provides pre-operative instruction regarding post- operative respiratory therapy modalities. Provides instruction for home respiratory care. Provide instruction for breathing retraining. Initiates, monitors and discontinues all modes of oxygen therapy. Initiate, monitor and discontinue all modes of supplemental airway humidification, including ultrasonic nebulizers, continuous aerosols and humidity tents.
- Receives documents and carryout verbal orders from the physician related to respiratory care. Checks for current and accurate physicians’ orders if necessary, notifies the clinical supervisor. Acts as a consultant to the physician on matters of respiratory care and the practice of respiratory therapy.
- Maintains positive working relationships with others with excellent customer service abilities, effective listening, and communication skills (i.e. ability to communicate with colleagues, patients and families during time of emotional and physical stress).
- Responsible for electronic health records data entry pertinent to patient service role.
- Takes occasional on-call responsibilities for night shift coverage.
- Ensure proper PPE is always worn while on duty including but not limited to, face mask, gloves, gown, isolation gown, NIOSH-approved N95 filtering facepiece respirator or higher, if available), and eye or face shield.
- Complete all donning and doffing tasks in a safe acceptable method and discard of used PPE accordingly. (see CDC website for most current updates)
- Complete task training for all routine cleaning and decontamination processes for all surfaces contaminated by a communicable disease to ensure a high level of patient, visitor, employee and external customer satisfaction
- Performs other duties as assigned.
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EFFORT
The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical:
Work requires prolonged ability to perform the following physical actions throughout the shift: sit, stand, walk, bend, kneel, crouch, twist, maintain balance, and reach; occasionally requires climbing and driving. Agility and the ability to lift, pull and bend is required to move patients to and from beds, wheelchairs, stretchers, et cetera and in moving equipment and medical supplies with the ability up to over 100 pounds prolonged throughout day. Incumbent must have the vision for far, near, color, depth perception, seeing fine details, hearing normal speech, hearing overhead pages over a loudspeaker, and use the telephone prolonged throughout the day. Incumbent must have the prolonged ability to use both hands to manipulate simple and firm grasping, fine manipulation, and use of keyboard functions.
Mental:
Contacts often require tact and sensitivity as those related to stressful situations such as death, dying and catastrophic illnesses. Must be able to prioritize and use good judgment. Must be able to coordinate a variety of issues while being frequently interrupted. Facility provides guidance and basic training for awareness and consideration regarding cultural aspects particular to this geographic area. Employees are expected to act on this awareness as a general condition of the workday. Other mental and emotional requirements include the ability to: Cope with high levels of stress; make decisions under high pressure; cope with anger/fear/hostility of others in a calm way; concentrate; handle a high degree of flexibility; handle multiple priorities in stressful situation; work alone; demonstrate high degree of patience; adapt to shift work; work in areas that are close and crowded; and frequently be able to manage altercations. Must be able to accept flexible schedule to meet unit needs.
Environmental Exposure:
Incumbent may experience prolonged exposure to infectious disease and hazardous or moving equipment; frequent exposure to chemical agents; dust, fumes, gases; loud noises; and, occasionally exposed to extremes in temperature or humidity and unprotected heights.
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NECESSARYQUALIFICATIONS
Education:
Applicant must have an Associate of Science Degree in Respiratory Care from a Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) program.
Credentials:
- Must have and maintain a current valid Respiratory Care Practitioner license from any state of the United States of America, The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States
- Must have and maintain a current valid Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT)
Certification:
- Must have and maintain a current valid BLS Certification from the American Heart Association (AHA)
- Must have and maintain a current valid Advance Cardiopulmonary Life Support (ACLS) Certification from the American Heart Association (AHA), if none, must obtain within 90 days from date of hire
- Must have and maintain a current valid Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) Certification from the American Heart Association (AHA), if none, must obtain within 180 days from date of hire
- Must have and maintain a current valid Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) Certification from the American Heart Association (AHA), if none, must obtain within 180 days from date of hire
Experience:
- Five (5) years of progressive recent work experience in a clinical healthcare setting
- Verifiable leadership roles as a Lead Therapist and/or in the cardiopulmonary field experience in new program implementation in accordance with American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC), National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC), and their Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG)
- Must have two (2) years training and/or experience in blood gases to meet the Joint Commission CLIA 88 requirement of Technical Consultant for Blood Gas Laboratories.
Other Skills and Abilities:
A record of satisfactory performance in all prior and current employment as evidenced by positive employment references from previous and current employers. All employment references must address and indicate success in each one of the following areas:
- Positive working relationships with others and works effectively in team relationships
- Possession of high ethical standards and no history of complaints
- Reliable and dependable; reports to work as scheduled without excessive absences
- Must have core knowledge in technical aspects of respiratory care and cardiopulmonary diagnostic procedures
- Must have effective coordination, consultation, organizational, and time management skills
- Professional competence and critical thinking skills
- Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills and proofreading skills
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