Acute Care Respiratory Therapist | Night Shift | Near Abilene, Texas

Position

Acute Care Respiratory Therapist

Location

Near Abilene, Texas

Salary

$75,432 – $98,491 annually

Schedule: Full-Time, Permanent | Night Shifts | Monday through Friday

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Job Description

A Respiratory Career Built for Nights, Not Compromises

Night-shift clinicians often carry the heaviest clinical load with the fewest institutional resources behind them. This opportunity is different. A well-established acute-care hospital near Abilene, Texas is adding a full-time, permanent Respiratory Therapist to a team that genuinely values the professionals who keep patients breathing through the night. With a competitive annual salary ranging from $75,432 to $98,491, a structured Monday-through-Friday night schedule, and a clear credentialing pathway for new graduates, this role is designed to reward both experienced practitioners and those just entering the field.

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Overview

This is a direct-hire, permanent position embedded in an acute-care inpatient environment near Abilene, Texas. As a Respiratory Therapist on the night shift, you will work across a diverse patient population that includes adult, pediatric, and neonatal cases, performing assessments, executing individualized care plans, and responding to emergent cardiopulmonary events. The Monday-through-Friday night schedule provides a degree of schedule predictability that is rare in acute care, making this an attractive fit for clinicians who want consistency without sacrificing clinical depth.

New graduates are eligible and are supported by a defined credentialing timeline to reach full RRT standing.

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Responsibilities

• Perform comprehensive respiratory assessments to evaluate patients' pulmonary and cardiopulmonary status using standardized clinical evaluation methods
• Design and implement individualized respiratory care plans grounded in evidence-based practice and aligned with each patient's clinical goals
• Deliver therapeutic interventions across individual patient encounters spanning adult, pediatric, and neonatal populations
• Facilitate and document therapy sessions addressing a range of acute respiratory conditions including ventilator management, airway clearance, and oxygenation support
• Enter and maintain accurate patient data in electronic health record systems in compliance with documentation standards
• Adhere to all applicable OSHA and NIOSH workplace safety regulations throughout all patient care activities
• Participate in cardiopulmonary emergency response as a credentialed BLS, ACLS, and pediatric/neonatal resuscitation provider

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Qualifications

Education

• Graduate of an accredited Respiratory Care program (associate's or bachelor's level)

Licensure & Certifications

Required:

• Active Respiratory Care licensure in the state of Texas
• Current credentialing in good standing with the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC), including fulfillment of Continuing Competency Program (CCP) requirements
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification required prior to first patient interaction
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification required within six months of hire
• Pediatric emergency certification (ENPC or PALS) required within one year of hire
• Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) certification required within one year of hire

New Graduate Credentialing Pathway:
New graduates are eligible for this position. Candidates who have not yet obtained RRT credentials must acquire CRT certification and pass the RRT credentialing examination within one year of graduation. Therapists who have not yet completed RRT credentialing will function in a Respiratory Care Practitioner capacity until certification is achieved.

Experience

• Prior acute-care respiratory therapy experience preferred but not required for new graduates meeting the credentialing pathway criteria

Preferred Skills

• Proficiency with electronic health record (EHR) platforms and clinical data entry workflows
• Familiarity with ventilator management protocols in an inpatient acute-care setting
• Strong working knowledge of OSHA and NIOSH compliance standards
• Experience across adult, pediatric, and neonatal patient populations

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Compensation, Incentives & Benefits

• Annual Salary: $75,432 – $98,491
• Employment Type: Full-time, permanent direct hire
• Schedule Stability: Monday through Friday nights -- no rotating weekends built into the core schedule
• New Graduate Eligible: Structured one-year credentialing pathway to full RRT standing
• Additional benefits details available upon inquiry through the recruiting process

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West Texas Living: Wide Skies, Real Community, and Room to Grow

Abilene, Texas sits at the crossroads of the Rolling Plains and the Edwards Plateau in west-central Texas, roughly 180 miles west of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is a city of approximately 125,000 people, large enough to offer genuine urban amenities but small enough that traffic, anonymity, and the exhausting pace of major metros are simply not part of daily life. For healthcare professionals relocating from crowded coastal cities or overbuilt Sun Belt suburbs, Abilene offers something increasingly rare: breathing room, in every sense of the word.

The cost of living in Abilene is meaningfully lower than the Texas state average and dramatically lower than cities like Austin, Dallas, or Houston. Housing in particular stands out. Single-family homes in desirable neighborhoods can be purchased at price points that would represent a fraction of comparable square footage in larger Texas metros, allowing clinicians to build equity rather than simply cover rent. Renters fare equally well, with a broad inventory of apartments and homes at rates that make saving and investing on a clinical salary genuinely achievable.

The lifestyle in and around Abilene rewards people who enjoy outdoor space. Kirby Lake and Lake Fort Phantom Hill offer fishing, kayaking, and shoreline recreation within easy reach of the city. Abilene State Park, located near Buffalo Gap to the southwest, provides camping, hiking, and wildlife observation in a landscape defined by cedar breaks, open grassland, and the quiet drama of west Texas terrain. The climate brings warm, sunny summers with low humidity compared to east Texas, cool and mild winters, and an abundance of clear days that make outdoor activity viable for most of the year.

Culturally, Abilene punches well above its weight. The city is home to three universities -- Abilene Christian University, Hardin-Simmons University, and McMurry University -- which give the community a collegiate energy and contribute to a robust calendar of arts, athletics, and academic events. The Abilene Philharmonic, the Paramount Theatre, and the Center for Contemporary Arts provide a cultural infrastructure that surprises visitors expecting a purely utilitarian west Texas town. The Abilene Zoo, one of the most respected municipal zoos in Texas for a city of its size, reflects the community investment residents make in quality of life.

The food scene draws from deep Texas roots: legendary barbecue, family-owned Mexican restaurants, and an emerging independent dining culture that has grown alongside the city's young professional population. Farmers markets, local breweries, and community festivals round out a social calendar that keeps weekends interesting without requiring a two-hour drive.

For clinicians with families, the Abilene Independent School District and several strong private school options provide educational choices worth exploring. The broader faith community is active and welcoming, and the general pace of life in Abilene supports the kind of work-life integration that is difficult to maintain in high-density urban markets.

Healthcare professionals who have relocated to west Texas frequently cite the genuine sense of belonging they find in Abilene. Patients know their providers. Colleagues become neighbors. The career feels connected to a real community rather than a faceless patient volume. For a night-shift respiratory therapist who wants clinical depth alongside a life worth living outside the hospital, the geography here is as much a selling point as the salary.

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A Night Shift Role With Long-Term Staying Power

Acute care respiratory therapy demands technical precision, calm under pressure, and the ability to manage complexity across a wide patient acuity spectrum. What it does not always offer is schedule consistency or a defined career trajectory for new graduates. This position addresses both. The Monday-through-Friday night structure gives clinicians a predictable rhythm that supports rest, relationships, and professional development outside of work hours. The credentialing pathway for new graduates ensures that early-career therapists are not left to figure out RRT certification on their own timeline without institutional context.

For experienced RRTs, the salary ceiling of $98,491 is competitive for the west Texas market, and the permanent direct-hire structure means stability rather than the churn of contract or travel assignments. This is the kind of position clinicians build a career around rather than a résumé line they rotate through.

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Ready to Make Your Move?

If you are a licensed or newly graduated Respiratory Therapist ready to bring your skills to an acute-care team that values what you do on the night shift, this is your next step. The combination of a strong salary, a structured credentialing pathway, genuine schedule stability, and a west Texas community that makes it easy to put down roots is not a common package. Reach out today to learn more and take the first step toward a career that works as hard for you as you do for your patients.