Covenant Health

Registered Respiratory Therapist

PRN/OCC, Variable Hours and Shifts

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is an award-winning, certified, and accredited facility with 541 beds. As a Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center, Fort Sanders offers state-of-the art care that maximizes recovery from stroke.  We are also the region’s leader in technology in areas such as bariatric surgery, robotic surgery and minimally invasive spine surgery. Our door-to-balloon times for heart attack patients are below the national average, and our hip fracture center offers advanced diagnosis, surgery and recovery procedures for hip patients.

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center is a member of Covenant Health, a locally-owned, non-profit health system based in Knoxville, TN, with a “patient-focused” culture. It has been recognized by Forbes Magazine as its 2020 “Best-in-State-Employer” for Tennessee. The CEO of our company, Jim VanderSteeg, attends every new employee orientation and will ask you to sign our pledge of excellence to always put patients first, strive for excellence in everything we do, and make Covenant Health the first and best choice for patients in our region. As you’d expect, we offer our employees a robust benefits package, including: offering unmatched medical insurance, tuition reimbursement; student loan repayment assistance, certification bonuses; leadership and professional development programs; an employer-matched 401(k); and a generous Combined Time Off (CTO) program.

Position Summary:

Provides care to patients with respiratory insufficiency and related complications.  Functions as part of the direct patient team to provide overall quality care and serves as a resource and specialist to patients, all patient care givers and physicians.  May be required to exercise clinical judgment under the order of a licensed physician.

If you have any questions please contact Recruiter: Kimberlin Woods || 865-374-5403 || kwoods8@COVHLTH.COM  

• Demonstrates respiratory care competency of critical and clinical skills on an annual basis.
• Demonstrates the ability to be flexible, handle multiple assignments, balance priorities, and make decisions quickly and function under stressful situations.
• Demonstrates the ability to perform all aspects of respiratory therapy to include age specific and related patient care in a safe and competent manner.
• Demonstrates skill in emergency situations based up on department standards, policies, procedures and protocols, assumes a leadership role in emergency situations.
• Demonstrates the ability to assess, identify and treat patient health conditions as established by organizational and departmental policies and procedures.
• Demonstrates the ability to make safe, effective and competent decisions regarding individual patient care. Express sound judgment.
• Demonstrates the ability to provide appropriate communication to nursing personnel and/or physicians, and other hospital staff as necessary. Must be able to demonstrate effective communication skills on all socioeconomic levels using tact, articulation and in a professional manner.
• Demonstrates competency/proficiency in mechanical ventilation, CPAP, and BiPAP skills to include current modes of ventilation, indications for use and calculations of necessary data.
• Demonstrates competency/proficiency in the performance of arterial blood gases and analysis per department policy and procedure. Quality control, troubleshooting, and quality assurance per department policy and procedures.
• Performs assigned tasks and uses equipment with skill and accuracy.
• Participates in performance improvement activities by making suggestions for unit/organizational improvements, data collection activities, and date analysis as appropriate.
• Documentation and charges are complete, accurate, timely and legible. Consistently document patient assessments, reassessments, patient education, goals, response to therapy and any other requirements for the patient medical record.
• Completes Quality Control procedures and documentation required by regulatory agencies, medical center and department policy.
• Maintains all equipment in a clean and functioning order. Responsible for location and inventory of any RT equipment utilized on a routine basis.
• Attends meetings as required and participates on committees as directed.
• Assists with the orientation and training of newly hired respiratory employees and the precepting of respiratory students.
• Perform other related duties as assigned or requested.

Minimum Education: None specified; however, must be sufficient to meet the standards for achievement of the below indicated license and/or certification as required by the issuing authority.

Minimum Experience: Must have documented experience necessary to obtain state license.

Licensure Requirement: Valid RRT Credential by the National Board for Respiratory Care. Licensed as a registered Respiratory Therapist by the State of Tennessee Health Related Boards with ABG endorsement.  Current work-permit acceptable per state regulations.  New Registry Eligible graduates may be hired in as an RRT and will have 90 days in which to pass the NBRC RRT exam and become credentialed.  Failure to obtain RRT credential within 90 days will result in a reclassification to CRT with an appropriate adjustment in pay. Current BLS. (CRT, RRT, BLS and state of TN license, ABG endorsed).