What Is a Critical Care Nurse?
Critical care nurses specialize in dealing with patients who are experiencing critical, life-threatening problems. A critical care nurse usually works with patients who are extremely ill or in danger of losing their lives. He or she is responsible for seeing that those patients receive the best care possible. Critically ill patients are defined as those at high risk of life-threatening illness or injury, and critical care nurses must be able to support the life of the patient under dire circumstances.
Critical care nurses can work in a number of settings, including intensive care units, cardiac care units emergency departments and recovery rooms. Critical care nurses are also beginning to work in home health care and managed care facilities.
The patients with whom a critical care nurse works require complex care, intense therapies and constant observation, so critical care nurses need to be ready to perform these tasks at all times. A critical care nurse must be quick on his or her feet and have sound reasoning abilities.
How to Become a Critical Care Nurse
In order to become a critical care nurse, one must first become a registered nurse, or RN. There are many routes to becoming an RN. Many universities offer associate (ADN) or bachelor’s (BSN) degrees in nursing. As long as students pursue a nursing degree from an accredited institution and pass any state-required certification, he or she should be able to receive a nursing degree that will be accepted nationwide.
Once an individual has a nursing degree, he or she must then pass a national licensing exam. Often state requirements mandate an individual to receive further certifications in order to be a critical care nurse. Regardless of state requirements, attaining a critical care certification may help an individual gain the necessary experience to hold an edge over other candidates when it comes time to apply for work.
The American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN)offers a Critical Care Registered Nurse certification for registered nurses with at least two years experience working with critical patients. Many nurses choose to become certified in critical care in order to further their expertise and increase employment opportunities.
Critical Care Nurse Career Outlook & Salary
The job outlook for registered nurses in the United States is projected to be excellent within the next decade. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of registered nurses is estimated to increase by 22% from 2008 to 2018. This is a rate much faster than that projected for all occupations in the United States. In fact, according to the Bureau, the occupation of registered nurse will see the highest increase in employment of all occupations in the United States.
The median annual wages for registered nurses in the United States were $62,450 in May 2008. The wages for critical care nurses, specifically, will differ based on employer and location. For example, according to Payscale.com, critical care nurses working in Texas earned an average hourly wage of $33.83, while critical care nurses in California earned an average wage of $41.22 per hour.
A large part of the growth in need for registered nurses in general can be attributed to a growing population of older people, who will most likely need more general and critical care.
