Respiratory Therapist - Pediatric

Provides patient care, assists and performs respiratory care services and basic cardiopulmonary diagnostic test procedures and basic polysomnography studies for neonatal, paediatric and adult patients per the clinical objectives established by the ordering or attending physicians, the Pulmonary Consultants, Intensivists, other Specialty Medical Consultants, Assistant Director of Cardiopulmonary and Deputy Chief Medical Officer following the American Hospital Dubai's Cardiopulmonary Clinical Policy and Procedures, the Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA), the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the American Association of Respiratory Care (AARC) and the American Association of Sleep Medicine (AASM) clinical practices and guidelines.

• Bachelor’s degree in Respiratory Therapy or
• Associate degree in Respiratory Therapy (minimum two (2) years course duration) or
• Bachelor’s in nursing followed by a Postgraduate qualification in Respiratory Therapy
• Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
• Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) preferred
• Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) preferred
• Basic Pulmonary Diagnostic Tests and Basic Polysomnography (PSG) Studies preferred

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Minimum of two (2) years of clinical experience as a Respiratory Care Practitioner and/or as a Respiratory Therapist with a clinical background to perform basic cardiopulmonary is required and basic polysomnography studies preferred
• Minimum of two (2) years of clinical experience working in the neonatal, paediatric, and adult critical care units preferred
• Clinical experience working in other areas including the outpatient clinic, the inpatient ward, and the emergency department is required, and respiratory home care is preferred
• Ability to operate and troubleshoot basic diagnostic test machines that include Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) machine, and the Polysomnography (PSG) system preferred

Quality and Accuracy:

• Performs safe and quality respiratory care services and basic cardiopulmonary diagnostic tests following the clinical policy and procedures established by the American Hospital Dubai and the Cardiopulmonary Department.  He or she is not allowed to perform advanced cardiology and neurology diagnostic test procedures and advanced polysomnography studies.
• Responds to the patient's emergency and assists/performs Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and/or Pediatric Advance Life Support (PALS) and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) whenever clinically indicated and/or required as prescribed by the physician.
• Performs comprehensive patient assessment and re-assessment before, during or after each clinical test procedure and following the clinical standards established by the World Health Organization assessment and the Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA) - International Patient Safety Goals (IPSG) requirement.
• Communicates directly with the attending or the ordering physician and/or the Medical Consultant and immediately reports any of the following that includes vague or contraindicated diagnostic procedures, unstable patient’s baseline vital signs, preliminary but critical diagnostic findings or test results, test complications, medications adverse reactions, patient’s refusal to diagnostic testing and any serious clinical events or a patient emergency.
• Documents all test procedures and clinical test events into the patient’s electronic medical records (EMR) following the hospital and the established clinical policy and procedures of the department.
• Utilizes appropriate medical equipment during the test procedures that may include any of the following Respiratory equipment, Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT) machine, Bedside Spirometer, Pulse Oximeter, Polysomnography (PSG)-Sleep Screening monitoring system, Blood Gas Analyzers and Cardiac Monitoring Device.
• Reviews the quality of the preliminary test reports after each patient’s test procedure on diagnostic tests that include Pulmonary Function Testing (PFT) and Polysomnography (PSG) studies.
• Prepares preliminary diagnostic test reports and/or machine-generated preliminary reports after each test procedure and submits a preliminary report copy to the Medical Consultants for immediate review, evaluation and final results.
• Refrains from utilizing any medical equipment that failed functional calibration or bio-calibration and verbally reports the equipment problems to the Biomedical Engineers and/or through the Service Requisition Software electronic reporting system for immediate inspection and repair.
• Disinfects all medical equipment after each patient’s utilization following the Infection Prevention and Control clinical standards and as per hospital and department clinical policy and procedures.
• Disposes all soiled or used “single patient use” medical supplies after each patient’s test procedure using the medical biohazard bin at bedside and following the Infection Prevention and Control standards and the established clinical policy and procedures of the department.
• Performs the monthly inventory of all medical supplies, reviews the medical equipment preventive maintenance requirement and respiratory medications, and replenishes all the requirements as applicable.
• Performs the daily patient room safety checks, respiratory supply checks and the patient room temperature and humidity checks following the established clinical policy and procedures of the hospital and the department.
• Participates in the Key Performance Improvement projects and Clinical Measures requirement for a respiratory section of the department.
• Participates in the weekly critical patient care rounds along with another multidisciplinary team in the Intensive Care Unit.
• Participates in the daily end-of-the-shift patient care plan review and clinical events reporting.

Quantity/Organizational Skills:

• Reviews the daily patient’s diagnostic test schedules, patient daily acuity and the patient's medical records before the test procedure.
• Prepares all the medical equipment required for daily diagnostic testing and performs daily functional checks and calibration before diagnostic test procedures including checking all accessories and supplies required during the test procedures.
• Identifies the correct patient, and assists the patient and/or the patient’s relative with the registration and billing process requirements.
• Admits the patient to the department and/or visits the patient in a specified clinical area and independently performs the prescribed diagnostic test procedure.
• Provides the patient and/or the patient’s relative with clinical education for specific and pr