Respiratory Therapist – Sleep Tech
Job Classification: Full-Time, Non-Exempt
Reporting Relationship: Reports to Director of Respiratory Care/Sleep Lab
Primary Accountability:
The Respiratory Therapist/Sleep Tech will be responsible for administering testing, monitoring patients during testing and completing other general duties of the Sleep Lab. In addition, the Respiratory Therapist/Sleep Tech will be responsible for rendering respiratory care procedures, as needed.
Major Duties:
• Prepare and calibrate equipment required for testing to determine proper functioning and make adjustments, if necessary.
• Apply electrodes and sensors according to accepted published standards.
• Perform appropriate physiologic calibrations to ensure proper signals and make adjustments, if necessary.
• Perform routine positive airway pressure (PAP) mask fitting.
• Follow procedural protocols (such as Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT), parasomnias studies, PAP and oxygen titration, etc.) to ensure collection of appropriate data.
• Follow “lights out” procedures to establish and document baseline values (such as body position, oxyhemoglobin saturation, respiratory and heart rates, etc.)
• Perform polysomnographic data acquisition while monitoring study-tracing quality to ensure signals are artifact-free and make adjustments, if necessary.
• Document routine observations, including sleep stages and clinical events, changes in procedures and other significant event in order to facilitate scoring and interpretation of polysomnographic results.
• Implement appropriate interventions (including actions necessary for patient safety and therapeutic intervention such as continuous and bi-level positive airway press, oxygen administration, etc.).
• Follow “lights on” procedures to verify integrity of collected data and complete the data collection process (e.g. repeats the physiological and instrument calibrations and instructs the patient on completing questionnaires, etc.).
• Demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize and provide age specific care in the treatment, assessment, and education of adult and geriatric patients.
• Assist with scoring sleep/wake stages by applying American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidelines.
• Assist with scoring clinical events (such as respiratory events, cardias events, limb movements, arousals, etc.) with center specific protocols.
• Assist with the generation of accurate reports by tabulating sleep/wake and clinical event data.
• Perform routine equipment care and maintenance and inventory evaluation.
• Maintain knowledge of the various methods of oxygen delivery, including the necessary equipment.
• Administer respiratory therapy treatments and understand the purpose/side effects associated with each.
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the differences in respiratory techniques and treatment modalities as performed on patients of varying ages, including neonate, pediatric, adolescent, and geriatric patients as well as the general patient populations.
Qualifications:
• Current Kansas Registered Respiratory Therapist Licensure; must hold a license through NBRC
• Polysomnographic Technologist or Respiratory Therapist willing to get SDS or RPSGT certified.
• Current BLS and ACLS certification.
Physical Demands:
• Eye/Hand, Eye/Foot, Hand/Foot Coordination.
• Normal eyesight, with or without corrective lenses.
• Normal hearing, with or without hearing aids.
• Motor coordination and manual dexterity.
• The ability to bend, stoop, crawl, and kneel.
• The ability to exert 20 to 50 pounds of force occasionally, and/or 10 to 25 pounds of force frequently, and/or greater than negligible up to 10 pounds of force constantly.
Work Environment:
• Well-lit work area.
• Subject to long irregular hours.
• May be exposed to infections, contagious, and blood borne diseases.
• Exposed to offensive odors or hazards of explosive gases.
• Exposure to unpleasant elements such as accidents, illnesses, and injuries.
• Works under emergency situations.
• Average amount of sitting, standing, and walking throughout the day/night.
• Meet and talk with a wide variety of employees, visitors and patients.
Additional Duties:
Additional duties and responsibilities may be added to this job description at any time. The job description does not state or imply that these are the only activities to be performed by the employee holding this position. Employees are required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related responsibilities as requested by their Supervisor or assigned charge personnel.