Nurse assistant to respiratory therapy technician
A nurse assistant already meets 44% of what the respiratory therapy technician role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.
58.1/ 100
1 How much of what a respiratory therapy technician is expected to do is already part of a nurse assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the respiratory therapy technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A respiratory therapy technician role treats 9 of its required skills as things a nurse assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- communicate in healthcare
- comply with legislation related to health care
- comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice
- contribute to continuity of health care
- ensure safety of healthcare users
- health care legislation
What stands in the way is 8 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 11 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A respiratory therapy technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a nurse assistant background worth leading with.
- already held hygiene in a health care setting services
- already held health care legislation business, administration and law
- already held respond to changing situations in health care management skills
- already held contribute to continuity of health care assisting and caring
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice assisting and caring
- already held communicate in healthcare communication, collaboration and creativity
All 11 carried skills, including the 9 the respiratory therapy technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 20 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn clinical perfusion required
- still to learn respiratory medicine required
- still to learn respiratory therapy required
- still to learn medical terminology required
- optional, not held emergency surgery optional
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held medical informatics optional
- still to learn operate breathing equipment required
- still to learn operate heart-lung machines required
- still to learn apply context specific clinical competences required
- optional, not held promote health and safety optional
- optional, not held provide pre-treatment information optional
- optional, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship optional
- still to learn carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures required
- optional, not held conduct polysomnography optional
- optional, not held interpret medical images optional
- optional, not held manage healthcare users' data optional
- optional, not held use e-health and mobile health technologies optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a respiratory therapy technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply context specific clinical competences practise this
- 02 carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures practise this
- 03 clinical perfusion study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 11 skills that carry over
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held health care legislation knowledge
- already held human anatomy knowledge
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held first aid knowledge
- already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held conduct polysomnography optional
- optional, not held emergency surgery optional
- optional, not held interpret medical images optional
- optional, not held promote health and safety optional
- optional, not held provide pre-treatment information optional
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held use e-health and mobile health technologies optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship optional
- optional, not held manage healthcare users' data optional
- optional, not held medical informatics optional
49 held skills the respiratory therapy technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accept own accountability skill
- not needed by the target role acute care knowledge
- not needed by the target role address problems critically skill
- not needed by the target role adolescence medicine knowledge
- not needed by the target role advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
- not needed by the target role apply nursing care in long-term care skill
- not needed by the target role apply person-centred care skill
- not needed by the target role apply sustainability principles in health care skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with nursing staff skill
- not needed by the target role deal with emergency care situations skill
- not needed by the target role disability care knowledge
- not needed by the target role disability types knowledge
- not needed by the target role distribute meals to patients skill
- not needed by the target role empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role follow clinical guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role follow-up patients with heart attack skill
- not needed by the target role general medicine knowledge
- not needed by the target role geriatrics knowledge
- not needed by the target role human physiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify abnormalities skill
- not needed by the target role implement fundamentals of nursing skill
- not needed by the target role implement nursing care skill
- not needed by the target role infection control knowledge
- not needed by the target role innovation in nursing knowledge
- not needed by the target role interact with healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role listen actively skill
- not needed by the target role medicines knowledge
- not needed by the target role monitor basic patients signs skill
- not needed by the target role nursing principles knowledge
- not needed by the target role nursing science knowledge
- not needed by the target role paediatrics knowledge
- not needed by the target role palliative care knowledge
- not needed by the target role pathology knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform diagnostic testing for allergies skill
- not needed by the target role perform venous cannulation skill
- not needed by the target role person centred care knowledge
- not needed by the target role pharmacology knowledge
- not needed by the target role plan nursing care skill
- not needed by the target role primary care knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote a positive image of nursing skill
9 further entries not listed here
9 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn clinical perfusion required
- still to learn respiratory medicine required
- still to learn respiratory therapy required
- still to learn medical terminology required
- optional, not held emergency surgery optional
- optional, not held rehabilitation of all organ systems optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held clinical imaging techniques optional
- optional, not held medical informatics optional
Common questions about this move
Can a nurse assistant become a respiratory therapy technician?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A nurse assistant already covers 44% of what a respiratory therapy technician is expected to do: 11 skills carry over, 9 of which the respiratory therapy technician role treats as required.
What skills does a nurse assistant need to become a respiratory therapy technician?
8 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by health and welfare. The single most important is apply context specific clinical competences.
How hard is the move from nurse assistant to respiratory therapy technician?
Its learning distance is 58.1 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.