Pathways Forward

Curricula · Hands-On Healthcare · The Idaho Panhandle

Heart, Lungs & the Operating Room: the Idaho Path

These are the technical jobs around the sickest patients: the respiratory therapist on the ventilator, the cardiovascular technologist in the heart-catheter lab, the surgical technologist at the operating table and the nurse anesthetist who keeps the patient asleep and alive. The pay runs from short of a family income to far above it. The nurse anesthetist is the best-paid job on this page, and the longest road.

Ed. 2026–27Builds on the Idaho Hands-On Healthcare core pathChecked 2026-09-26

Why this field is on the list · as of September 2026

$263,130Median nurse anesthetist (CRNA) pay, state of Idaho, May 2025
$100,100Median cardiovascular technologist pay, state of Idaho, May 2025
$104,611Idaho living wage, one earner, three children

Two jobs pass, two fall short. The nurse anesthetist earns more than twice the three-child bar, and even the 25th percentile ($227,990) does. The cardiovascular technologist ($100,100) clears the two-child bar ($88,747) and Boundary County’s three-child bar ($98,181). The respiratory therapist ($78,460) and surgical technologist ($72,550) fall short of even the one-child bar ($82,297).

The short ones are still worth it. Respiratory therapy and surgical technology each take about two years, pay a steady income, and give a close look at critical care and surgery. A respiratory therapist who becomes a nurse, or a surgical tech who becomes a nurse, is on the road to anesthesia.

The work stays in human hands. Ventilators, heart monitors and anesthesia machines are full of automation already. When a patient’s oxygen drops in the middle of surgery, a person still has to find out why and fix it in seconds. Passing the right instrument before the surgeon asks is also handwork.

Watch for: Spokane Community College trains invasive cardiovascular technologists, one of few such programs in the Northwest. Its final internship may be out of town, so plan for time away from home.

01 · The ladderFour jobs, four roads

These roads do not share one ladder. Each starts from the same core path and the same early patient-care work.

  1. Patient care at 16 to 18

    A CNA course at 16 (see nursing) or an EMT license (see EMT) is the usual start, and both count toward every road below.

  2. Surgical technologist

    North Idaho College’s Surgical Technology program now starts one class a year each August and accepts up to twenty students to its 11-month professional program. Graduates can sit for the national certified surgical technologist (CST) exam. Surgical techs set up the sterile field, pass instruments and keep count of every sponge and needle.

    Idaho median $72,550 · 25th percentile $61,490 · second income or stepping stone

  3. Respiratory therapist

    Respiratory therapists run ventilators, give breathing treatments and help at every code. Spokane Community College and Idaho State University both run programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care. Graduates take the national RRT exams, and Idaho licenses respiratory therapists.

    Idaho median $78,460 · 25th percentile $72,640 · short of the bar

  4. Cardiovascular technologist

    Spokane Community College offers invasive cardiovascular technology: six quarters of classes, then a final-quarter internship at a medical center, often out of town. These technologists work in the catheter lab where heart blockages are opened and stents placed. SCC’s echocardiography program trains heart ultrasound, covered on the imaging page.

    Idaho median $100,100 · 25th percentile $84,190 · clears the two-child bar

  5. Nurse anesthetist (CRNA)

    The road runs through nursing: a bachelor’s-degree RN, then critical-care nursing experience, then a three-year doctorate. Idaho State University runs a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice, three years over nine semesters, aimed at rural practice. In Spokane, Providence Sacred Heart and Gonzaga University run a nurse anesthesia doctorate together.

    Idaho median $263,130 · 25th percentile $227,990 · far above the bar

02 · BranchesWhere the work leads

The operating room

Kootenai Health runs the largest surgical department in the panhandle, and surgery centers in Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls hire surgical techs and CRNAs. In small rural hospitals, the CRNA is often the only anesthesia provider.

Schedule: Surgery centers keep daytime hours; hospitals add call for emergencies.

Intensive care and the emergency room

Respiratory therapists work every floor of a hospital, but most of all in intensive care, the newborn unit and the emergency room. Many also do home oxygen and sleep-study work.

Schedule: 12-hour shifts, including nights and weekends.

The heart center

Catheter labs perform scheduled procedures by day and emergency heart-attack cases by night. Cardiovascular technologists share the call.

Schedule: Weekday days, plus call on a rotation.

03 · For the familyThe schedule, for a father and for a mother

04 · The home-school yearsWhat to add to the core path

Grades 9–10

  • Everything in the shared core, with extra weight on anatomy and chemistry
  • Steady-handed work: small engines, electronics, sewing or model building
  • CPR, kept current

Grades 11–12

  • NIC dual credit in anatomy & physiology, chemistry, microbiology and English, paid largely through Advanced Opportunities
  • A CNA course or EMT license
  • Ask a hospital about shadowing a respiratory therapist or observing in surgery

After high school

  • Surgical technology at NIC, or respiratory or cardiovascular training in Spokane
  • For anesthesia: nursing first, then critical-care experience

Tie to the Verification Track

An alarm sounds. Is the patient in trouble, or has a sensor slipped? The surgical count says one sponge is missing. Is it really missing, or miscounted? In these rooms, checking fast and checking right is the whole job. The Verification Track trains that same habit.

05 · SourcesWhere these facts come from

Checked 2026-09-26