The CRT credential is a prerequisite for admission to the Registry Examination. The RRT Examinations consist of a written portion and a clinical simulation portion; candidates must schedule separate testing appointments for each of these portions. However, candidates may attempt both parts on the same day, provided testing sessions are available. Individuals who attempt both parts of the examination and achieve passing scores will be awarded the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential.

The National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) administers and develops various examinations used to certify health care professionals in the respiratory therapist arenas. Two of these exams are the Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) exam and the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) exam. The CRT is an entry level examination and is used to measure the abilities, skills, and knowledge that are needed for entry level respiratory therapists. The RRT is an exam taken by advanced respiratory therapists and is used to measure the abilities, skills, and knowledge that are needed by these healthcare professionals. One must have the CRT credential to be able to take the RRT examination.

There are two ways in which one can apply and register for both the CRT and the RRT exams. An application can either be completed online at the NBRC website, or an application (found in the candidate handbook; also online) can be downloaded, filled in, and mailed to the NBRC. Necessary fees must be paid at the time of application. If the application is completed online, it is processed immediately. The candidate is able to then schedule their examination appointment online. If the application is sent to the NBRC, it will be approved and processed within two weeks. A confirmation notice of eligibility will then be sent in the mail to these applicants. This confirmation notice has information on how to schedule the examination. The confirmation notice is valid for only 90 days, and if an examination appointment is not scheduled within this time, all fees will be forfeited, and a new application will have to be completed in order to take the exam at a later date. Specific application details and policies, as well as fee information can be found in the candidate handbook on the NBRC website.

Examinations are given on a computer at over 150 testing centers in the United States. Exams can be scheduled for Monday through Fridays, and specific times are noted on the NBRC website. One must schedule their exam at least three days prior to the desired testing date. Two valid forms of identification are needed at the testing center to be admitted for the examination.

The Certified Respiratory Therapist exam consists of 160 multiple choice questions. Of these questions, 140 are scored questions, and 20 are pretest questions. The pretest questions are not scored; rather they are used to aid in the development of future examinations. The questions come from three major content areas: patient data and evaluation, equipment application and cleanliness, and therapeutic procedure initiation and modification. Out of the 140 scored questions, 25 deal with patient data and evaluation, 30 deal with equipment application and cleanliness, and 85 deal with therapeutic procedure initiation and modification. The pretest questions can deal with any of these three content areas. Detailed information about minor content areas can be found in the candidate handbook online. One is given three hours to complete this examination.

The Registered Respiratory Therapist exam consists of two parts. The first part of the exam is a written part that is made up of 115 multiple choice questions. 100 of these questions are scored, and 15 of these questions are pretest questions. Three major content areas are tested in this part of the exam: patient data evaluation and recommendations (20 scored questions), equipment application and cleanliness (18 scored questions), and therapeutic procedure initiation and modification (62 scored questions). The 15 pretest questions can come from any of these three content areas. Specific information on minor content areas can be found in the candidate handbook online. A test taker is given two hours to complete this portion of the exam. The second part of the RRT exam is the Clinical Simulation Examination (CSE). The CSE consists of 11 patient management problems. Ten of these problems are scored, and one is a pretest problem. The CSE is designed to simulate real life situations that one might encounter during the course of their work. The CSE problems deal with adults, pediatric patients, as well as neonatal patients, and specific information about the different situations that may be encountered on the CSE can be found in the candidate handbook online.

Both the multiple choice CRT exam and the written, multiple choice part of the RRT exam are scored in the same way. Scores are first reported as raw scores, which are the total number of questions answered correctly. Raw scores are given for each of the major content areas, as well as the minor content areas, and for the examination itself. The raw score for the examination is also converted to a scaled score, and the scaled score determines if one has passed or failed the examination. A scaled score of 75 is passing for the CRT and a scaled score of 70 is passing for the written portion of the RRT. The scoring for the CSE portion of the RRT varies from examination to examination, and details can be found in the candidate handbook found on the NBRC website. To pass the RRT, one must pass both the written portion and the CSE portion.

The candidate handbook also has a lot of general information about the application and registration, content breakdown, and additional test taking tips. Reading the candidate handbook in its entirety should be part of every candidate's preparation for the CRT or RRT exam.

NBRC -National Board for Respiratory Care, Inc.

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