I freaking hate my job.
I hate hate hate it.
I’ve been a therapist for a little over 2 years now.
Why did I become an RT?
There is no freakin’ respect from nurses, even though I went to school the same length of time they did, and no respect from anyone really.
I feel like I just wasted 4 years of my life in school for something that I am misreable in.
Plus I am an asthmatic and I get sick all the time from the sick little patients that I take care of.
I like taking care of people, I’m just not liking the stuff that I have to deal with: the lack of respect, the low pay and getting sick all the time.
I am frustrated.

Hey Unhappy,

You sure sound frustrated. hope you can find something that is more nurturing for you if you decide to look for it. or, if you decide to stay an RT, here’s hoping your circumstances improve.

Take care of yourself.

Respect is earned. There are M.D.s I don’t respect or trust in an emergency. If you have knowledge and skill, respect will come, even from RNs.

Now, to the question. I have just started blogging. I gave up the hospital work for the more lucrative medical equipment gig. I developed http://www.oxygenfreedom.com and just started blogging on Blogger.

I wanted to do a blog for respiratory patients. There are so many changes happening in Respiratory right now. Some are exciting. Others disturbing. We’ll see how it goes and if I can provide something useful for someone else, it will be worth the effort.

I’m real glad to have found this blog.

Glad to hear it Bob! I’m happy to see other Respiratory Therapists Blogging — in whatever forum!

Good luck!

Hey Joe!
I’m Jen, a RT from Chicago (land) and I’m so freaking upset right now… UGH!!!! I want to drive to Kansas right now and make some misery at NBRC headquarters, they suck sooooooo much!!!

I graduated from an RRT eligible program in 1992 with honors, took my CRT exam in Nov of 1992, and my RRT exams the following year. I’ve worked at some of the best hospitals in Chicago, and faithfully completed my CEU’s and licensure every year. The state of Illinois requires 30 CEU’s every two years with the license renewal.
About five months ago, I received a post card from the NBRC about submitting my CEUs to them before my “credentials expired”. it was very vague and contained no dates. NOTE: I HAVE ALL OF THE CEUS required!!! Stupidly, I went and asked everyone what this meant, and was told over and over that I shouldn’t worry about it as long as I had fulfilled the requirements for my state CEU’s, I was covered for the NBRC. I admit- I didn’t pursue it, kept forgetting about it, should have looked it up on the internet to see what the hell they were talking about!!The stupid postcard disapearred into oblivion, although I did start digging up proof of five years worth of CEU’s last month, with the intention sending them in.

ApparentlyMy credentials “expired” June 30th, eight days ago.

I casually went on line today, DUG through the NBRC’s site to find out how to fulfill their CEU expectations, paid them $25 for the pleasure of what? I don’t know, and then was looking for where I would have to submit the CEU proof.
Guess what? My credentials have expired- and the #@!!?**^ conniving (sp) back stabbing soul-less bastards at the NBRC require that I :

(A) RETAKE ALL OF MY EXAMS
(B) PAY $190 FOR THE CRT, $300+ FOR THE RRT, AND $300 LATE FEE TO THEM OR I CANNOT WORK IN THE FIELD!!!!
(C) I HAVE TWO YEARS TO PAY NEARLY $900 AND RETAKE BOTH OF THE EXAMS (RRT IS REQUIRED IN MOST CHICAGO HOSPITALS).

Quite the punishment for not typing in some information, isn’t it!!??

I am just sick, sick, sick!!! I’m a single mother who’s killed myself in this field, for half of the pay that our nursing buddies are making!I made a great effort to better myself and become an RRT before it was required of me, and the cost of these exams was no small feat back four years ago when I was just making my way into the field. I was NOT and have not been rewarded monetarily for making that RRT effort.

I think this must be a sign from God to get out of this field- we are not and have not been rewarded for our hard work… we have a board that does not support us and has been widely known for constantly trying to suck suck suck more and more blood money out of its members… blood sucking soul-less vampire bastards- I hope you all burn in hell!!!

EIGHT DAYS!!!

Isn’t there anything that can be done about this?? Does anyone know of another way? I honestly won’t retake and repay these ?*#@!! PEOPLE another blinking DIME of my very hard earned money… I would rather crawl in bed with my next MRSA infected patient and french kiss them than give these bastards ANYTHING!! I really really understand what people have been saying about the NBRC all along- And what kind of national board FORCES you to pay annual dues? The desperate disliked kind, that’s what….

Anyhow, Joe- thanks for letting me beef- I’m not the gun-toting violent kind, don’t worry. I never thought I’d call myself an Ex- RRT, but as said, it looks like the gods have a different career in mind for me….

Sick in Chicago

I have NEVER sent any CEU proof to the NBRC. I’m not even a member. I have heard they are financially strapped but this sounds like some sort of scam.
My belief is once you have been issued credentials the NBRC has no authority over your State license and no authority to revoke credentials. You passed the requirements for the NBRC. After that point they are not the governing body of your license.
Good luck!

Thanks Bob, but unfortunately the two are seperate things- we’re all required to get CEU’s and pay for our state licensure (I think everyone is), and in Illinois, we’re required to get 24 (not 30 like I posted last) every two years with our $100 licensure charge. I have those for the last 5 years, and in fact, was audited the second year… so Illinois has actual hardcopies of my CEU’s for 2005 and 2006.
THe NBRC is saying that I had to send or type in the CEUs for them prior to June 30th, my fifth year since I received my last credential. They apparently passed a law in 2002 that says every NEWLY credentialed therapist has to do this as of July 2002. I wasn’t aware that we needed to do anything seperately for the NBRC- I thought they would be able to look at my Illinois licensure and SEE that I had fulfilled my CEU requirement. I also had NO IDEA that they would do something this serious.They say that we were notified when we received our credentials- but I swear to you the only thing I received from them was a Congrats! letter for becoming an RRT, and then a card/patch. No “Here are your requirements to keep your credentials”. That was five years ago. Then six months ago, I received a lame loseable vague postcard with NO dates/requirements and nothing that relayed quite how serious this was. And then NOTHING ELSE!! You would think they would have sent one more notice prior to taking away my credentials!!
So, if I don’t retake my boards and pay the money in two years, then it will in turn effect my license- because the NBRC reports to the state of Illinois (and all other states) that I/we have lost my/our credentials.
So, anyhow- Bob, you’ve never had to send in CEU proof because you got your credentials prior to July 2002, see?

Looking forward to hearing anything else my fellow therapists might have to say,
Sick in Chicago. Jen

Jennifer,

I am in Florida, we also have a state license. I know that there is a fee to keep up the NBRC credential listing in the book, however I too have never heard of sending your CEUs to the NBRC. I have been CRTT & RRT for quite some time. Also, I have never received this letter. Next time I go to the hospital I am going to ask about this, see if anyone has ever gotten one. If you have your state credentials in order, you should be legal to work.

Out of curiousity I just looked at my NBRC credentials, and there are no expiration dates on the certificates. All licenses that expire must have an expiration date, none do. I was registered for I think about 4 years before the Florida State License was inacted, and during that time there were no CEU requirements at the national level. In addition, none of the seminars I have been to recently required my NBRC registry number, which would be imperative if the NBRC was collecting this information.

I also have CE Broker, and they too only send my CEU info to the state. I have no idea what they do in Illinois, but what you describe is not something I have ever heard of.

Louis, thank you for your comments… but unfortunately, this new law was put into effect on July 2002, and only affects those who got certified/ and or registered after that date… the NBRC will not require anything of you. All of the post 2002 RTs do have expiration dates on their cards/certificates (five years after passing the exams)- I’ve just asked some of the newer graduates to show me theirs. However, they too HAD NO IDEA what the NBRC is/will require of them. No one is clear on what they expect, and I am just now walking around and telling folks what they will need to do. Great for everyone else, sucks to be me.

Please, I’m begging you all out there- please look into this…
Do you all agree that the punishment does not fit the crime? Remember please that I HAVE fulfilled all of my CEU requirements, all of my licensure requirements, have passed all of my exams, DID pay the NBRC a fee to be active, blah blah. The only thing I didn’t do was to send in Proof of the CEUs I’d ALREADY TAKEN on time! (although the state of Illinois does have proof of the CEUs I’ve already taken!)

Is this reason that I should lose all of my credentials and eventually licensure??? If you commit a crime on the job (IE steal on the job) you are at least given a hearing before possibly losing your credentials and licensure!! I am not even eligible for that!!

I’m still sick, jen in chicago

Well, it’s official- I’ve lost my credentials from the NBRC because I didn’t send in copies of the CEUS I’d already taken. I sent in my best people, who were on the board of the ISRC (illinois board) and also on the board of the AARC. They are in complete agreement that this is nonsensical, but alas, the NBRC remains heartless, money grubbing and relentless. And now I can’t work as a respiratory therapist at hospitals until I retake the exams. And pay them the $500 to become a CRT, almost a $1000 to become an RRT again. No hearing, no warnings, nothing, I’m unemployed. I wonder if I’ll get unemployment from the state of Illinos?

sick in chicago

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on how to get back in getting my CRT license. I finished my Respiratory program back in 2007, but life took me elsewhere and taking the exam and getting certified fell off my career but now that my life is situated, I would really like to get my license and start my career…. Although I’m a very bad test taker and had taken the test several times but didn’t make it and just gave up but now I wana try it again with good studying material. I feel like kettering doesn’t help me and its really costly for me to take it again. Please any advice will be helpful. Thanks.

It looks like practice tests are about $40/each. You should be able to get your CRTT credential if you meet the prerequisites and practice. The more practice you can do, the better.

Jennifer – Ouch. If you got your CRT and RRT in the 90′s it should not have affected you. In your 1st post, you wrote you got them in the 90′s.

As you later stated, it affects all who credentialed any time after 2002, any credential.

As an employer, during orientation we discuss the NBRC’s Continuing Competency Program with each new hire, it’s in their Employee Manual and they are reminded about it during their employment as we track it as well.

I surely don’t want to see that happen to one of my employees!
Good luck

Jennifer – that’s awful! It is unfortunate that the Respiratory School you went to didn’t emphasize the point that it is much easier to pay the NBRC $25 or $40 or whatever it is a year to keep track of your credentials; than for you to remember to send them in before your 5 years is up; and yes, they only send you one little postcard that looks like all of the other junk mail we all recieve.
In most cases, if you don’t change the facility you work at, it won’t be a problem, but as soon as you want to get hired at a new facility, you’ll discover your credentials have expired, and the only way to reactivate them is to take the board exams over again!!!
I just graduated Respiratory School in September, and thankfully, they emphasized this requirement to all of us, in the hope that we will not fall into this trap. If you pay your NBRC dues every year, they will keep track of your CEU’s for you, and it won’t be a problem.
Jennifer – I’m sorry you had to find out the hard way; it really sucks! To everybody else credentialed after 2002 – MAKE SURE you either keep your dues paid up with the NBRC, OR send in your verifications before your expiration date!!

Well I stumbled upon this bit of info last night and have been completely messed up since then. I completely forgot about the NBRC, never see them, hear about them etc…none of my coworkers fell into the 2002 category because they all finished earlier so they weren’t aware to remind me. I worked in Home Health, Sleep and IDTF since graduating. So I don’t even use the skills needed to pass the boards again. NC will decide Oct 13 what they will do if your credentials expired and my NC license is good til March 2012. Unfortunately my NBRC expired Aug 2010. So I missed the new 6 month window.

I am sick to my stomach thinking about retaking the exams but I really like my job. It isn’t so much the money to retake the exams but the mental exhaustion of studying and trying to pass the boards. IF I want to keep my current job I have to have my RRT. 190+150 reapp fee for CRT and then 390+300 reapp fee RRTs. BUT IF I wait til 2 yrs lapse I can just start over again like a new grad if they haven’t changed the rules and only pay the $190 and $390. Makes no sense.

I got pregnant 2 weeks after my Clin Sims and then moved to another state 6 months later. I failed to notify the NBRC- again out of sight out of mind and kept up my CEU’s for my NC state license. I failed to notice any articles from the AARC about it and since none of my coworkers had to worry about it… here I am. The NBRC was aware I moved because I had to pay a FEE to them so I could get licensed in the state of NC so it wouldn’t have been that hard to find me…

I would like to know why it is only 2002 grads and not EVERY credentialed therapist that is required to pay the $$ and submit CEU’s. Seems unfair. It should be across the board for active therapists if they are going to do something.

I feel so defeated. I busted my butt for that degree/passing the 3 exams to get to this point. I feel like I wasted 2 yrs of my life.

I would have been more than willing to pay my fees and submit my ceu’s had I known.

I wonder how many people since this has been instated have fallen into this hole???

Dear Shannon- I’m so sorry to hear this is still happening to people, I was the first to post my story here and you can also read my initial story on Indeed.com “The NBRC ruined my life”. There’s so many stories there that are the exact same as yours. I get an email at least once a month from someone that is going through a horror story compliments of the NBRC. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything to do but go ahead and take your boards again, you obviously can’t be unemployed for two years. It’s a painful unnecessary lesson that we’re being given, and I keep hoping that it will happen to someone who has some money and pull, then maybe they will make their requirements known to every respiratory therapist, and make the consequences Clear to everyone. Knowledge is power, and we were not given the necessary information to make the appropriate decisions. Too sad that such an incompetent corporation is in charge of our profession!!