[Respiratory therapists in Germany: An analysis of their current training and work situation]

Although there has been a trainee program for respiratory therapists since 18 years, a representative survey of this field of activity is lacking. The aim of this study was to find out which professional groups felt addressed by the training program, how satisfied they were with the training and where the respiratory therapists were employed, to take a look at the organisation of the working conditions after further training and how cooperation with other professional groups functioned. An investigation into whether there were factors that had an influence on the above-mentioned points should provide an outlook on how respiratory therapy in Germany was likely to develop in the future and what would be important for its future work.In a quantitative cross-sectional study, a partially anonymised electronic survey was conducted among prospective and trained respiratory therapists in Germany. The survey was analysed using the (browser-based) programme "Online Umfrage.com" and the spreadsheet programme Microsoft Excel. The open questions were analysed using Mayring's qualitative content analysis.307 prospective and postgraduate respiratory therapists from all federal states and with varying years of continuing education took part in the survey. Most of the respondents worked in the clinical field; 90% of the respondents were rather or very satisfied with their further training. A quarter of them got no time off at all from work or only partially to participate in continuing education. Half of the respondents had not been able to get better salaries following their further training. Nevertheless, 81.25% of respiratory therapists said they would recommend the training programme to others. When asked what was important for the future, the answers varied and ranged from state recognition and better cooperation between training providers to better public relations work.Further training to become a respiratory therapist is seen as very positive. However, there are still significant problems in the areas of remuneration, time off and further training development. The type of supervisor was identified as one of the most important influencing factors. Thus, respiratory therapists who were subordinated to the medical service were more satisfied than those placed under the nursing service management.