Letters

Nineteenth Letter

Dear Respiratory Therapist,
Well, I'll be writing this letter for all those people that belong to this area. I'll be writing good and bad.

First of all, I've like to let all you guys know that I will be part of this beautiful profession. For those who don't know (this is for all those people who don't know what respiratory therapist is.) NO! We are not nurses. We are not the ones that give massages. We are the ones that work with your heart and lungs. We are the ones that give you medicine to breath better. We are the ones that give you espirometers to expand many things in your lungs to help you guys after surgery. We are the ones that work with the ventilators. We are the ones that help you with your breathing problems. We are the ones that work with the asthma attacks (RIP Oliver.) We work giving CPR. We give oxygen. We are workers. We are professionals. We work hard for hearts and lungs. We work for our patients. I gave you there a little bit about us. I want to say us, because I'll never go back and I'll always stay on this career.

Puertorrican Therapists, let me tell you, some are slobby son of a bitches. You do things in a hurry. You dont take your time with the patient. You don't listen to the lung's sounds, you just write what others write. Doctors do the same, they're slobby as well. You just administrate the medicine and move on to the next one. You don't talk to them, don't ask how they are. What you're showing to us, students, are to be exactly like you. Great model, NOT.

You guys don't even know what you're doing. Somtimes they ask you about something, and you just follow the Doctor's orders but don't know when they ask you something. Im very dissapointed, we fight with the nurses a lot for being slobby, lazy and irresponsible. I've learnt more bad things than good.

Some therapist, I love. I've learned from them. Learnt new strategies. New things I'd only learn in the clinics. I am proud to be part of this proffesion. We are like no other. I love this career, this study. There are many ways to help a patient. When I entered to this profession, I thought that it was only giving albuterol, but its more than that. We suction a patient. We give oxygen. At times, we give even air. We help for the lungs not to colaps. We help for oxygen in lungs. We help for when there is too much CO2. We help for liquids in lungs. We help for when it has too many mucus. We give chest tapping. We help ventilating when your body is not strong enough to and put a mechanical ventilator. My father, he used to rent ventilators. He used to give speeches about ventilators. He was good in this. My mother, she is a respiratory therapist. I studied this because she said only 40 could get in, here in Puerto Rico, almost anyone can, but my professor can see who has the potential and love for this profession. We, here in Puerto Rico, we are labeled as laborers, we are paid the minimum. I thik this is unfair for us. We also save lives, we also risk ourselves in the field. We could get contaminated. We also run risks with patients lives. Yet, they give us 20 patients in 8 hours and some patients have to be given the treatment every 2-8 hours. We have more than 20 during the day. And yet, they want us to take our time, they teach us, to take time in every patient. To listen to their lungs, to count their breaths with its chest, to get the pulse, to administrate the medicine and come back when its done. I thik its too much. I think, its not fair that we are not many people in each hospital. Oh, dont get me started, we have patients from different floors. Plus, if there is an emergency, they call us to go to the Emergency Room. And much more.

United States Therapist, I'm proud of all of you and I congratulate all who has done well. I'm proud to say that I'll be joining the profession, which I find beautiful. I'd like to say that one day, I'd like to join you guys to be part of the respiratory therapist of the U.S. I want to take my time with the patient, and only have a few.

Me: I want to be a good therapist, known in many places. It's hard, but i feel not impossible, to get the final exam and have my license from the US, even though they say i cant get it from Puerto Rico. I want to be wealthy with that job. I want to love it and fall in love, every year that passes, not be tired and sick of it. Its a beautiful profession. I fall in love with it every time I go to a clinic, or I learn something new cool.

Respiratory Therapist is my super power, what's yours?

Congratulations to all those Respiratory therapist of the world that love this job and profession and does it with the heart or with a good mind. To the puertorricans, you guys do super good, with how hard and much work we have. Good luck, and may the force be with you all.

Loves, a future respiratory therapist , A. Suris.