Travel Respiratory Therapist Jobs

Staffing pressure, the city's cost of living, and shift do the moving. A short-staffed ICU-heavy program, a pricier market where stipends lift the weekly total, or a night and weekend rotation all push the number up, while daytime floor coverage anchors the lower band. Every listing carries its own rate, so compare the shift and unit mix alongside the number.

They share airway physiology but little else. A travel RRT manages ventilators, airways, and oxygen therapy across ICUs, EDs, and floors on acute timelines, while sleep techs run overnight diagnostic studies in a controlled lab. Contracts hire for one or the other, and acute respiratory experience is what hospital travel assignments screen for, sleep-lab hours alone rarely qualify. If you hold both backgrounds, lead with the acute side.

Most hospital and travel assignments expect the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential from the NBRC, the field's advanced standard beyond the entry-level CRT. Respiratory therapists must also be licensed in every state except Alaska. Keep your NBRC number handy when you apply, licensure verification in a new state is usually the slowest credentialing step for respiratory travelers.

Travel respiratory therapists most often work hospital units (ICUs, emergency departments, pulmonary floors, and neonatal ICUs) managing ventilators, airways, and oxygen therapy. BLS ties the field's growth to hospital-concentrated demand from COPD, pneumonia, and an aging population. Vent-heavy ICU and NICU coverage is where demand concentrates, so travelers comfortable with critical-care equipment qualify for the widest slice of the board.

Beyond the RRT, most contracts want BLS, and many add ACLS, plus PALS for pediatrics or NRP if you'll cover a NICU. Which ones matter depends on the unit, so check the assignment before you apply and keep your cards current to avoid a credentialing delay. A lapsed PALS or NRP card is the classic avoidable delay, so renew before your current contract ends.

Usually after one to two years of recent acute-care work with independent ventilator management. Contracts assume you can take an ICU or ED assignment after a short orientation, so hospital travelers who have only floor or clinic experience should build critical-care hours first. Keep the RRT, BLS, and unit-specific cards current, and be ready to name the vent platforms you have run, it is the first screening question.