Travel Registered Respiratory Therapist
Elmira, NY
First Connect Health
3x12 hrs, Evenings
Referral Bonus

Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT - House-Wide Float) 

Location: Elmira, NY

Contract Duration: 13 Weeks (07/05/2026 – 10/03/2026)

Shift: Mid-Shifts / Evenings | 11:00 – 23:30 (3x12-Hour Shifts)

Guaranteed Hours: 36 Hours Per Week

Submission Guardrails & Requisition Matrix

• Schedule Requirements: Consistent mid-shift/evening footprint spanning 11:00 to 23:30.
• On-Call: No on-call commitments are tied to this assignment.
• Reason for Requisition: Backfilling an open slot left by an employee resignation/termination.
• Urgency: Critical Order (Level 1).

Job Summary

An acute care medical center in the Southern Tier of New York is seeking a highly adaptable, autonomous Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT). This high-acuity contract requires a broad clinical skill set, as the traveler will serve as a house-wide resource, floating dynamically between the Adult ICU, Emergency Department, Level III NICU, and general medical-surgical floors. You must independently manage advanced mechanical ventilation, respond to emergency codes, and guide therapy modifications across both neonatal and adult patient populations.

Key Responsibilities

• Critical Care Ventilation Management: Independently manage, monitor, and troubleshoot invasive mechanical ventilators (e.g., Puritan Bennett, Dräger) in the Adult ICU. Assess and document plateau pressures, auto-PEEP, and patient-ventilator dyssynchrony.
• Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU): Assist with high-risk deliveries and provide specialized neonatal respiratory support in the Level III NICU, including managing neonatal ventilators, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), and high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV).
• Emergency Department & Trauma Response: Respond immediately to all Code Blues, trauma activations, rapid responses, and emergent intubations. Perform endotracheal tube placement confirmation, manage emergency bagging, and monitor mechanical transport ventilation.
• Arterial Blood Gas ($ABG$) Mapping: Safely perform arterial punctures (radial, brachial, or femoral), analyze samples using point-of-care lab systems, and accurately interpret acid-base balances to recommend immediate ventilator parameter shifts.
• General Airway Therapeutics: Administer specialized aerosolized medications, deliver non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (BiPAP/CPAP), perform chest physiotherapy ($CPT$), and manage tracheostomy adjustments across general floor units.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Experience: Minimum 2 years of recent, continuous hospital-based RRT experience that includes active, cross-functional rotations into both Adult Critical Care and NICU platforms.
• Licensure: Active New York State Respiratory Therapy License must be held at the time of submission.
• Certifications (Must be active at submission):
  • NBRC Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential.
  • AHA NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program) – Mandatory due to the NICU coverage.
  • AHA ACLS & BLS (American Heart Association).
  • Preferred: PALS certification.

Clinical Spotlight: Navigating Neonatal vs. Adult Ventilation Controls

Operating as a true house-wide float means balancing vastly different physiological parameters in a single shift. The incoming RRT must maintain flawless conceptual control over the mechanical variations between adult and neonatal lungs:

• Adult ICU Targets: Managing standard volume-control or pressure-control matrices where tidal volumes ($V_t$) are safely derived via ideal body weight equations at $6\text{–}8\text{ mL/kg}$, utilizing high PEEP values to recruit alveoli in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) pathways.
• Neonatal ICU Targets: Shifting instantly to pressure-limited, time-cycled, continuous-flow ventilation where tiny tidal volumes ($4\text{–}6\text{ mL/kg}$) and highly rapid respiratory rates ($RR$) are required to avoid barotrauma and volutrauma in non-compliant, surfactant-deficient premature lungs.