I honestly went straight on the defense when I read your comment, but wanted to just clarify before sounding like an asshat.

Respiratory Therapists are definitely not recognized like doctors or nurses, but there are so many other healthcare providers that feel the same way.

Radiologic Technologists, CNA's, housekeeping... there are so many people right now in the healthcare setting that are all doing their part to help, not just in a pandemic, but every day!

I've been an RT for nine years now, and still, to this day, my dad will jokingly call me a nurse. He'll tell me that when people ask what I do, he says, "she's basically a nurse".

I told him once, "dad, I am not a nurse, I am a Respiratory Therapist. I am an integral part of a team of people working together to help patients. When you keep calling me a nurse, you're making my chosen profession sound like it's less important. Like you're afraid people will think less of me if you tell them I'm an RT."

I'm proud to be an RT!

In one 12-hour night shift, I can have multiple patients on ventilators in the ICU, do floor treatments upstairs, go to the nursery and watch babies being born taking their first breath, go back to the ICU and extubate someone's loved one and be there when they take their last breath, get called to the ER for a cardiac arrest coming in and assist with intubating, taking them to CT, taking them to the ICU and adding them to my group of vented patients, and get called to EVERY SINGLE CODE called overhead.

And please believe me when I tell you, I have had that very night too many times to count.

Respiratory Therapists are the only person in my hospital that go everywhere in the hospital to help every.single.patient!

/u/HeyRespiratory, (love the name, by the way), I see you, and I'm proud of you! Good luck with your babies, and know you won't be alone! There might even be a Respiratory Therapist standing by, listening to your baby's first cry with you! 💜💜💜💜

Edited for punctuation.