How To Become A Respiratory Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a respiratory director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average respiratory director salary is $75,123. The most common degree is a associate degree degree with an medical technician major. It usually takes 6-12 months of experience to become a respiratory director. Respiratory directors with a Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 18,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRespiratory DirectorUS Average

Salary

5.9

Avg. Salary $75,123

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.9

Growth Rate 14%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 6.38%

Black or African American 12.32%

Hispanic or Latino 14.10%

Unknown 4.13%

White 62.78%

Gender

female 50.29%

male 49.71%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress Level

9.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.0

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.3

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a respiratory director

Explore respiratory director education requirements

Most common respiratory director degrees

Associate

57.6 %

Bachelor's

23.6 %

Master's

11.1 %

Start to develop specific respiratory director skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	32.17%
EKG	8.29%
RRT	7.46%
Acute Care	4.04%
Acls	3.52%

Complete relevant respiratory director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New respiratory directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a respiratory director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real respiratory director resumes.

Research respiratory director duties and responsibilities

Manage ventilated-dependent patients, assist with ventilator transports, prepare equipment for decontamination, bronchial hygiene management
Conduct therapeutic procedures to maintain a patent airway, remove via suctioning of secretions, to achieve adequate ventilation & oxygenation.
Organize efforts for JCAHO accreditation.
Perform ABG draws and run results, monitor and maintain IRMA blood gas machine.

Prepare your respiratory director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your respiratory director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a respiratory director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Respiratory Director Resume templates

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Apply for respiratory director jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a respiratory director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do respiratory directors rate their job?