Respiratory Care Practitioner I, Full-Time, Nights ($20,000 Sign-On Bonus)
Posted Sep 17, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Sep 22, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about a patient who deteriorated on your shift.
What they are checking: Recognition and escalation, told about a real patient rather than in principle.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with an ordered therapy.
What they are checking: Whether they will raise a concern with a physician about something in their own specialty.
What is the hardest part of working across med surg, the emergency department and critical care in one shift?
What they are checking: Whether they have done it, and whether they know what it costs.
Why respiratory care?
What they are checking: Whether the choice was deliberate, which usually predicts how long they stay.
What would you do
When would you adjust the frequency of a therapy on your own, and when would you call the physician?
What they are checking: Where the boundary of their independent practice sits under protocol.
You are called to a clinical emergency. What are you doing in the first two minutes?
What they are checking: Whether they have a structure for an emergency rather than improvising.
How do you teach a patient to manage a respiratory condition at home?
What they are checking: Patient education, which the posting names and which decides readmission.
How do you decide who to see first when several patients are due therapies at once?
What they are checking: Prioritization, which is the whole shift in respiratory care.
Tell me about a patient or family who did not want the treatment.
What they are checking: Respecting a refusal while making sure it is informed.
About the work
Tell me about your licensure and the care areas you are competent in.
What they are checking: Scope of practice, since the posting expects competence across med surg, emergency and critical care.
Walk me through assessing whether a patient is responding to the therapy that was ordered.
What they are checking: Whether they assess and adjust, rather than deliver a treatment and move on.
How do you communicate a change in a patient's condition to the rest of the team?
What they are checking: Whether their reporting is clear enough to act on.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Northwestern Medicine.