respiratory therapists are vital members of the healthcare team they work with patients of all
ages and provide care to ultimately help them breathe easier however before you can start a
career as an RT you must first obtain a license and credentials then you are required to keep
them active throughout your career in this video we will discuss the requirements for
earning credentials obtaining a state license and meeting the necessary requirements to keep
them up to date so if you're ready let's get into it first let's talk about credentials credentials
are essentially proof that you have completed the educational and or clinical requirements necessary
to work as a respiratory therapist therefore in order to sit for the credentialing exams you must
first graduate from an accredited respiratory therapy program once you have graduated you will
then need to pass two separate exams the TMC exam and the clinical Sims after passing both
exams you will earn the registered respiratory therapist or rrt credential this makes you
eligible to apply for a license in the state in which you wish to practice Respiratory Care
now let's talk about getting your license in addition to having the necessary credentials
a license is required in order to practice Respiratory Care in all states to obtain a
license you must first graduate from an accredited respiratory therapy program pass the board exams
and earn credentials once you have done so you will need to submit an application to your
State's licensing board along with the required fee after your application has been reviewed and
approved you will receive your license and be able to practice Respiratory Care in your state another
important thing that we need to discuss is how to maintain your credentials because unfortunately
it is very common for RTS to let them expire in order to maintain your credentials as a
respiratory therapist you will need to participate in the credential maintenance program or CMP
the CMP is a program offered by the nbrc that requires respiratory therapists to recertify their
credentials every five years there are three ways to do so number one complete assessments or submit
CEUs number two pass the previous board exam for your highest credential and number three pass a
new nbrc credentialing exam and one important note about this program is that basically if
you've received your credentials on or after July 1st 2002 you will be required to participate in
the CMP program in order to maintain your mbrc credentials however if your credentials were
awarded prior to July the 1st 2002 you are not required to participate in this program in this
case you are basically grandfathered in per se but as previously mentioned the first method of
maintaining your credentials is to complete assessments or submit CEUs the mbrc offers
quarterly assessments that must be completed by a specific date each assessment is basically a quiz
that is designed to test your knowledge of the latest Respiratory Care information and guidelines
if you answer enough of the assessment questions correctly throughout a term your credentials
will be renewed and you will not be required to submit CE use ceu stands for continuing
education units they are nationally recognized credits that quantify the amount of time spent
in the professional development of Respiratory Care CEUs can be earned by attending workshops
conferences and other educational events related to the field of Respiratory Care as previously
mentioned if your assessment score is high enough you will not be required to submit CEUs to the
mbrc however if your assessment scores are low you may be required to submit up to 30 CEUs
the next method for maintaining your credentials is to pass the previous board exam for your
highest credential however one thing to keep in mind is that if you hold multiple nbrc credentials
and elect to use this option you must pass the exam for the highest level credential that you
hold for example if you previously obtained the rrt accs credential which is the adult Critical
Care specialty you must retake and pass this exam since it is your highest credential and on top of
that to use this option you must retake the exam during the final year of the five-year credential
period And if you successfully pass the exam a new five-year term will begin on that date
and the third option that I mentioned is to pass a new nbrc credentialing exam
passing an mbrc exam that you did not previously take automatically extends the credentialing
period for all credentials you hold for an additional five years this means that all of your
nbrc credentials will have the same expiration date therefore you will be able to maintain all
of your credentials at once now I know we all get busy with work and our lives and stuff but I can't
stress enough how important it is to stay on top of your credentials and have a plan each year for
how to maintain them and keep them up to date but you may be wondering what happens if my credential
expires well unfortunately if your credential expires you will no longer be able to practice
Respiratory Care in the United States and this happens far too often but the good news is that
there is a path for reinstating them if you are within a six month time period of expiration you
can still submit your ceu's online and pay a 250 dollar fee for reinstatement the CEUs must have
been earned during the most recent five-year term for this option to work however if you are more
than six months past the expiration date of your credential unfortunately you will need to retake
and pass the mbrc exams for all previously held credentials this is why I keep stressing that you
have to stay on top of it and people also commonly ask how to document CEUs well if you decide to
submit CEUs to the mbrc in order to maintain your credentials you will need to document
them properly this involves participating only in approved educational activities such as lectures
panels workshops seminars and online education programs again you must be diligent about ensuring
the ceu is approved before spending your valuable time and money then you must submit your CEUs to
the mbrc website and pay the required fees prior to the expiration date of your credentials your
credentials will expire if you do not meet the deadline but enough about credentials for now you
also need to know how to maintain your license in order to keep your respiratory therapist license
active you must meet the requirements of your State's licensing board this may vary from state
to state but it generally involves completing CEUs and renewing your license on an annual
or bi-annual basis you may be able to complete your CEUs online but some states require that
you attend in-person workshops and conferences you will also be required to pay a renewal fee which
can range from twenty dollars to three hundred dollars depending on the state in which you work
so be sure to check with your State's licensing board for these specific requirements
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thank you so much for watching have a blessed day and as always I'm really easy my friend