What are the career outlooks/ general starting salary for a Respiratory Therapist?
Asked by Dan
I'm considering this, among other options, for school. i graduated high school last summer, and am looking at multiple options...all help greatly appreciated. Thanks! =)

Best Answer:
The median expected salary for a typical Certified Respiratory Therapist in the United States is $42,631. This basic market pricing report was prepared using our Certified Compensation Professionals' analysis of survey data collected from thousands of HR departments at employers of all sizes, industries and geographies.
http://swz.salary.com/salarywizard/layouthtmls/swzl_compresult_national_HC07000120.html
Answered by Clarkbar

Let me tell you how many therapists tell me they should have went to Nursing school. My wife is a Certified Repiratory Therapist for 20 yrs, works at a local hospital, bust her butt for 12 hrs a day and makes 24$ a hr. I'm a RN. working ICU for 16yrs and make 35.00 hr and it will continue to go up. Talk to some therapist before you make a decision, there salarys are not increasing like Nurses, and theres definately not the oppertunities available to them that we have.
Answered by Randy K

you need to think twice about resp therapy. I'm a registered resp therapist for 10 yrs and i hate it. i have told myself over and over "i should have done something different". there is no challenge to this field and its boring to walk from room to room filling nebulizers. oh and yes i work my butt off for 12 hour shifts, had to give up my weekend life and some holidays.oh and the pay isn't that great. after you tire of this field you are stuck, unlike nursing can get into alot of different areas to work , but not with resp therapy. i'm now in my 50's and can no longer physically do this type of work. where do i go from here-----------welll don't know-------------. i highly advise you to not listen to counselors or other personnel that will lead you into a dead end job with no future opportunities.don't spend the time and money to pursue this career choice. there are many other avenues to look at in the med field. AVOID RESPIRATORY!!!
Answered by lakelivingwl@sbcglobal.net