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.
U.S. Workers
136,420
Median Salary
$80,450
10-Year Growth
+12.1%
Annual Openings
8,800
Typical entry: Associate's degree
21 of 22 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.
AI: Fully automatable - AI systems can fully automate chart maintenance by extracting, updating, and organizing patient identification and therapy data in EHRs with appropriate integration and validation.
Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can fully automate relaying blood analysis results to physicians, including formatted summaries and alerts integrated into clinical workflows.
Monitor cardiac patients, using electrocardiography devices, such as a holter monitor.
AI: Fully automatable - AI systems already perform continuous ECG/holter data collection, automated arrhythmia detection and alerting with validated accuracy, enabling end-to-end automated monitoring workflows.
Perform endotracheal intubation to maintain open airways for patients who are unable to breathe on their own.
AI: Partial - Robotic and AI-assisted intubation systems can aid clinicians, but fully autonomous, reliable endotracheal intubation without human supervision is not widely safe or validated by 2025.
Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
AI: Partial - AI can provide real-time guidance, feedback, and decision support for emergency procedures, but cannot physically perform CPR or other hands-on emergency care without robotic hardware and human supervision.
Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.
AI: Partial - AI can continuously monitor physiological data, detect anomalies, and generate alerts or recommendations, but clinical interpretation and direct consultation/action with physicians remain human responsibilities.
Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
AI: Partial - AI can assist with setup instructions, parameter calculations, and automated control within safety limits, yet actual device operation, troubleshooting, and responsibility for patient-specific adjustments require trained clinicians.
Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties.
AI: Partial - AI can support team workflows, documentation, and decision support, but cannot physically assist with procedures or fully assume the collaborative clinical responsibilities of healthcare professionals.
Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
AI: Partial - AI can read prescriptions and interpret ABG values and patient data to assess condition but cannot perform the physical arterial blood draw and point-of-care measurement autonomously.
Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repairs when necessary.
AI: Partial - AI can support inspection and maintenance through predictive diagnostics, test scheduling, and repair ordering but cannot perform physical cleaning or hands‑on repairs itself.
Explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears.
AI: Partial - AI can explain treatment procedures and provide tailored information to patients to reduce anxiety, but fully replicating in-person bedside rapport and nuanced emotional support remains limited.
Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders.
AI: Partial - AI can recommend treatment requirements consistent with physician orders using protocols and data analysis, but final determinations and legal clinical responsibility require human clinicians.
Enforce safety rules and ensure careful adherence to physicians' orders.
AI: Partial - AI can monitor compliance, flag deviations, and support enforcement through alerts and workflow controls, but cannot fully enforce safety rules or physically ensure adherence without human action.
Educate patients and their families about their conditions and teach appropriate disease management techniques, such as breathing exercises or the use of medications or respiratory equipment.
AI: Partial - AI can effectively educate patients and families with tailored content, demonstrations, and reminders, yet hands‑on coaching and assessment of technique often still need human providers.
Perform bronchopulmonary drainage and assist or instruct patients in performance of breathing exercises.
AI: Partial - AI cannot perform physical bronchopulmonary drainage but can instruct and guide patients in breathing exercises and assist clinicians with protocols and monitoring.
Conduct tests, such as electrocardiograms (EKGs), stress testing, or lung capacity tests, to evaluate patients' cardiopulmonary functions.
AI: Partial - AI can automate interpretation and guide device operation for EKGs, stress and lung tests, but cannot reliably perform all physical setup and patient interactions autonomously.
Perform pulmonary function and adjust equipment to obtain optimum results in therapy.
AI: Partial - Closed-loop ventilator control and device automation exist for optimizing pulmonary therapy, but human oversight and complex therapeutic adjustments remain necessary.
Demonstrate respiratory care procedures to trainees or other healthcare personnel.
AI: Partial - AI can provide high-quality instructional content, simulations, and guided practice, but cannot fully replace live hands-on demonstrations, assess subtle manual skills, or provide mentorship.
Use a variety of testing techniques to assist doctors in cardiac or pulmonary research or to diagnose disorders.
AI: Partial - AI excels at analyzing data and automating protocols to assist cardiac/pulmonary research and diagnosis, but cannot independently execute the full range of physical testing techniques across settings.
Transport patients to the hospital or within the hospital.
AI: Partial - Autonomous vehicles and transport robots can handle some low-risk or non-ambulatory movements, but safe patient transport typically requires human assistance, judgment, and liability oversight.
Teach, train, supervise, or use the assistance of students, respiratory therapy technicians, or assistants.
AI: Partial - AI tools can support teaching, training, scheduling and performance tracking, but comprehensive supervision, credentialing and nuanced personnel management require human professionals.
Make emergency visits to resolve equipment problems.
AI: Not automatable - AI cannot make physical emergency onsite visits to resolve equipment problems, which require human responders and hands‑on intervention.