Respiratory Therapist - Night
Posted May 26, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 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 time you disagreed with a physician's ventilator or oxygen order. How did you raise it?
What they are checking: Whether they advocate for the patient with evidence and respect, rather than staying quiet or going around the provider.
Describe a time you caught something during a routine treatment that turned out to matter a lot.
What they are checking: Assessment habits that go beyond running the treatment and checking a box on the schedule.
How do you keep yourself sharp and safe working nights over the long haul?
What they are checking: Self-awareness about fatigue and the habits that keep a night worker reliable rather than burned out.
What do you do at shift change to make sure the day therapist knows exactly where each of your patients stands?
What they are checking: Handoff discipline, since gaps between night and day shift are where breathing patients get missed.
What would you do
It's 3 a.m. and a patient on BiPAP is getting more tired and their gas is worse than an hour ago. Walk me through what you do and who you call.
What they are checking: Whether they recognize failing noninvasive support early and escalate before a crash intubation becomes the only option.
On nights you may be the only therapist covering several units. How do you decide which treatment or call comes first when three come in at once?
What they are checking: Triage judgment when coverage is thin and every page feels urgent, which is the core of a night shift.
A family member at the bedside asks you whether their dad is going to come off the ventilator. What do you say?
What they are checking: Compassion paired with staying inside their scope and steering medical prognosis questions to the right provider.
About the work
How do you read an arterial blood gas? Talk me through one where the pH, CO2 and bicarb didn't tell an obvious story.
What they are checking: Real fluency with mixed acid-base disorders, which nights depend on because a physician may not be at the bedside.
A ventilated patient's peak pressure alarm keeps going off but the plateau pressure is normal. What are you thinking and what do you check first?
What they are checking: Whether they can separate airway resistance problems from lung compliance problems quickly and work through causes in order.
What's your role when a rapid response or code is called overnight, and what do you do in the first two minutes after you arrive?
What they are checking: Airway readiness and knowing their exact job in a code so the team is not waiting on respiratory.
How do you approach a spontaneous breathing trial, and what would make you stop one early?
What they are checking: Whether they follow weaning protocols with judgment and know the real signs that a patient is not ready.
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As published by ThedaCare.