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6.1 Respiratory Therapist Driven Protocols

Most health care facilities and hospitals utilize respiratory therapist driven protocols. The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) defines respiratory care protocols as initiation or modification of a patient care plan following a predetermined structured set of physician orders, instructions, or interventions in which the therapist is allowed to initiate, discontinue, refine, transition, or restart therapy as the patient’s medical condition dictates[1].

Protocols that allow RTs to practice to the full extent of their competencies, knowledge, and skills result in elimination of waste in both resources and wages, a reduction in health service utilization and length of stay, and ventilator days. The benefits are even more enhanced when costly interventions with a high volume of patients or protocols are targeted to enable RTs to practice at the top of their scope of practice[2].

By using therapist-driven protocols, studies have shown that respiratory care protocol use is associated with benefits regarding respiratory therapist turnover and job satisfaction. In addition to their positive effect on allocation of respiratory care treatments, improved outcomes, and reduced costs, use of respiratory care protocols can also be used to increase respiratory therapist job satisfaction and reduce turnover intentions[3].

For more information on respiratory therapy protocols visit the AARC’s Statement of Respiratory Therapy Protocols.
  1. Ford, R. M. (2015). Therapist-driven protocols: New incentives for change. Respiratory care, 60(5), 757–759. https://doi.org/10.4187/respcare.04123 ↵
  2. Dubois, R., Sorensen, R., Buell, B., Telenko, T., & West, A. (2021). The Respiratory Therapy Practice-Based Outcomes Initiative (RT-PBOI): Developing a framework to explore the value added by respiratory therapists to health care in Alberta. Canadian journal of respiratory therapy: CJRT = Revue canadienne de la therapie respiratoire, 57, 99–104. https://doi.org/10.29390/cjrt-2021-010 ↵
  3. Metcalf, A. Y., Stoller, J. K., Habermann, M., & Fry, T. D. (2015). Respiratory therapist job perceptions: The impact of protocol use. Respiratory Care, 60(11), 1556–1559. https://doi.org/10.4187/respcare.04156 ↵

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Respiratory Therapy: An Open Workbook for the Entry to Practice Student Copyright © 2025 by WisTech Open is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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