A NICU Respiratory Therapist (RT) is a health care provider trained to care for babies with breathing problems – such a simplified description of a role that is not only essential in the NICU but is life-saving. Sometimes RTs provide breathing support not only to the babies in their care, but also to the parents of those tiny, fragile babies.
What isn’t shown in the picture is the RT that is standing to the left with L and L’s oxygen. They were both still on the nasal cannula at this time. Our RT stood patiently offering respiratory support after every picture taken for 30 minutes!
I had never really thought about the role of a RT until my 24 week and 5 day twins were born, weighing little more than a large tomato on August 30, 2009. They were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where I would become very familiar with the role of a RT. I had an emergency c-section to deliver our twins and it was a RT in the operating room who put her arms around me to provide comfort and reassurance. She looked me straight in the eyes and promised me that she and the NICU team would do everything they could to save our babies. I immediately trusted her. This same RT was one of my rocks throughout our NICU stay and I can’t imagine the journey without her.
Our neonatologist had mentioned during the first few days in the NICU that it would likely be several weeks before she thought I would be able to hold either of our babies but this particular morning, upon my arrival just two weeks into our stay, she had a different agenda. She asked me if I thought I was ready to try holding our daughter skin to skin. She explained that Lola was extremely agitated. Her heart rate had crept up to the 200’s, her blood gasses were not good and she was displaying immense stress. She warned me that our daughter might have to be immediately placed back into her isolette if she became more unstable but that she was willing to take that chance if I was.
Just some of the awesome respiratory therapists I am blessed to work with in my role as a Program Facilitator for NICU Helping Hands.
Once everyone had their places, the delicate work began to get all 1 pound 9 ounces of our daughter out of her bed and onto my chest. It took our neonatologist, 2 NICU nurses, and 2 respiratory therapists to lift her, keep her ventilator tube in place and move her oscillator box over to me while I sat perfectly frozen in anticipation. It took nearly 30 minutes to get Lola onto my chest and the medical equipment taped into place but it was so worth it! Within minutes of her nestling into the sports bra we had tucked her into on my chest, her heart rate began to slow to a normal rate and her respiratory rate evened. Our RT perched himself on a chair right by my daughter’s ventilator and as her saturation levels improved he lowered the vent settings. I was able to hold her that day for over 4 hours because our RT was so patient, kind and committed to helping our daughter thrive in her new environment.
This is me standing beside the respiratory therapist that so lovingly wrapped her arms around me in the delivery room 6 years ago. I am not sure if she will ever understand the impact she had and continues to have on me to this day. She stepped out of her role that morning as an RT and into the role of loving me like I was her sister and for that, I am forever grateful!
I could share dozens of stories about our NICU RTs. They spent hours during our 130 days in the NICU teaching us, leading us and flat out creating incredible memories for us because of the dedication they have to caring for both babies and their families. My twins are now 6 and doing well. I work in the NICU as a Program Facilitator for NICU Helping Hands, providing support and education to families. It is a privilege to serve in the exact NICU where our fragile babies were.
Daily, I witness the incredible RTs providing vital equipment and care for NICU babies. I also see them bonding with families that are terribly broken from the admission of their baby into the NICU. I am reminded daily of both the medical care and emotional support they provided to my family and continue to provide to every family that finds themselves in the NICU.
On behalf of NICU Helping Hands and NICU parents across the country, we want to say thank you. Thank you for the dedicated, difficult work you do and the love that you show to each family. Your impact is lasting, not only for the babies but for the families. Each day you offer support not as just a part of your job description but as a part of your heart.
We LOVE the NICU RT!
Natalie Gordon is Program Facilitator for NICU Helping Hands in Fort Worth, Texas. She works directly with families during their stay in both the antepartum unit and the NICU, providing not only bedside support on a daily basis but group sessions for parent support and educational sessions weekly as well. Natalie is the mother of Alexis, age 13 and Lola and Landry, age 6 who were 24 week premature twins.