Senior Respiratory Care Practitioner - NIGHTS - Cottonwood

Senior Respiratory Therapist

The Senior Respiratory Therapist is an advanced-level clinical practitioner responsible for providing expert respiratory care while supporting departmental operations through leadership, education, and quality improvement activities. This role combines direct patient care with supportive administrative and mentorship responsibilities.

Responsibilities

Clinical Care

• Provides comprehensive respiratory care services to patients across all age groups and acuity levels.
• Assess, treat, and manage patients with acute and chronic cardiopulmonary disorders.
• Performs advanced respiratory procedures, including mechanical ventilation management, arterial blood gas analysis, and airway management, utilizing advanced modes of ventilation.
• Ensures VAP protocol compliance
• Operates specialty equipment: Nitric Oxide delivery systems.

Administrative

• Completes all billing paperwork.
• Demonstrates timely and accurate documentation of assessments, interventions, EMR entries, and patient responses.
• Performs lead responsibilities in the absence of the lead Respiratory Therapist.
• Coordinates daily staffing assignments and manages workflow distribution.
• Addresses and resolves operational issues and staff concerns during assigned shifts.
• Serves as the primary point of contact for interdisciplinary teams and hospital administration.
• Makes critical decisions regarding resource allocation and patient prioritization.

Competency Support

• Assists in the development, implementation, and evaluation of competency assessments.
• Conducts hands-on competency validation for respiratory therapy staff.
• Identifies knowledge or skill gaps and provides targeted education and remediation.
• Maintains documentation of competency assessments per department standards.
• Supports annual competency requirements and specialized training processes.

Precepting and Education

• Orients and trains new respiratory therapists during their onboarding period.
• Develops and implements individualized learning plans for orientees.
• Provides ongoing mentorship and clinical guidance to less experienced staff.
• Collaborates with the education department to ensure the successful completion of orientation programs.

Quality Support Activities

• Participates in quality assurance and performance improvement initiatives.
• Conducts chart audits to ensure compliance with documentation standards and regulatory requirements.
• Reviews and analyzes clinical practice patterns and outcomes.
• Identifies opportunities for process improvement and best practice implementation.
• Collaborates with leadership to develop corrective action plans when needed.

Equipment Care

• Assembles and disassembles, operates and maintains, troubleshoots, cleans, and performs minor repairs on equipment.
• Educates patients on therapies and prescribed medications/therapy given prior to discharge while documenting patient understanding.

Compliance/Safety

• Responsible for reporting any safety-related incident in a timely fashion through the SER tool; attends all safety-related training programs, performs work safely; monitors work environment for possible safety issues, and ensures others are also safely performing work.
• Adheres to regulatory and organizational standards affecting patient care and safety as well as all hospital and departmental policies and procedures. Practices in a safe and cost-effective manner.
• If required for the position, ensures all certifications and/or licenses are up-to-date and valid before expiration dates.
• Stays current and complies with state and federal regulations/statutes and company policies that impact the employee's area of responsibility.
• Completes all company mandatory modules and required job-specific training in the specified time frame.

Qualifications

Education Associate's Degree from an AMA Respiratory Therapy Program - RequiredBachelor's Degree - preferred Certification & Licensures Licensed by the Arizona Board of Respiratory Care Examiners - RequiredNational Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC), Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) - RequiredBLS, ACLS, PALS - RequiredNRP- Required within 90 days from date of hire and/or providing care in a special care nursery.1 specialty credential ACCS, CRPFT, NPS, Certified Asthma, Pulmonary Disease Educator Certification, or AHA Certified Instructor - Preferred Experience 2 years of acute care experience - Required

Northern Arizona Healthcare