Respiratory Therapist-Managed Arterial Catheter Insertion and Maintenance Program: Experience in a Non-Teaching Community Hospital.

Background: Usual practice in community health-care settings indicates that arterial catheters are inserted by physicians. In the context of a respiratory therapist (RT)-managed arterial catheter placement protocol being implemented in our community hospital, the current study describes the implementation and outcomes of this RT-managed arterial catheter insertion and maintenance program.

Methods: Tuality Healthcare is a 215-bed community health-care system (10-bed ICU) in Hillsboro, Oregon.