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Patients with life-threatening or possibly life-threatening conditions are cared for by critical care nurses. Critical care nurses operate in a variety of settings, including hospital intensive care and step-down units, trauma units and emergency rooms, surgery centers and recovery rooms, and surgery centers and recovery rooms. Critical care nurses rely on their expertise and training to aid extremely sick patients no matter where they work.
A job as a critical care nurse allows you to deal with a variety of patients or patients with a specific type of ailment, such as those in cardiac care units or neonatal intensive care.
Overview
Critical care nurses care for patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly, who all have one thing in common: they are in critical physical condition and are suffering from life-threatening medical diseases or traumas. These specialists use highly sophisticated technological abilities to diagnose and monitor their patients' problems in order to assist them in regaining their health. Critical care nurses are advocates for their patients, speaking for or representing them when appropriate, in addition to providing hands-on bedside care.
Most critical care nurses deal with just one or two patients at a time, and they usually collaborate with a team of healthcare experts that includes physicians, other nurses, and allied health care workers.
Tasks and Responsibilities
Critical care nurses give one-on-one care to patients who have experienced significant sickness or injury as part of their everyday duties. They give all standard bedside care, with the added obligations that come with fragile patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses. Problem-solving and speedy decision-making are among their responsibilities, as are jobs like:
Identifying patients' requirements and developing an appropriate treatment plan once they are admitted to the critical care unit.
Identifying and treating patient diseases and injuries
Vital indicators such as heart rate, respiration rate, and body temperature are monitored, recorded, and evaluated.
Monitoring the performance and output of life support systems, such as heart monitors
Wounds should be cleaned and bandaged.
Depending on the patient's demands and condition, drugs may be administered orally, through injection, intravenous or gastric tube, or other techniques.
Blood products infusion
Patients' responses to medicine are being monitored.
Responding to changes in the state of the patient
Collaboration and communication with other care team members
Both the patient and their family and caregivers receive information and counseling regarding the patient's condition and care needs.
Assisting the patient as an advocate
Assisting families in making critical decisions about life support and end-of-life situations.
Making arrangements for the patient's body to be transported to a morgue, hospital, or burial facility following death.
Patients in critical care settings, as well as their family members, are under physical and emotional strain. In the face of heightened emotions, critical care nurses require tolerance, sensitivity, and understanding, and they are regularly called upon to respond compassionately when family members and loved ones are grieving. They must also confront their own emotions in the face of patients who die or become disabled.
Salary
Critical care nurses make an average of $75,119 per year, according to Salary.com, although their pay varies depending on geographic region, experience, education, and other factors. Critical care nurses in big urban areas such as Los Angeles, California, can make more than $100,000 per year, and greater professional experience can lead to considerable pay rises.
Critical care nurses typically receive appealing benefits and perks in addition to their compensation, such as paid vacation time and sick leave, personal ties, and health, dental, vision, and prescription insurance coverage. In competitive markets, facilities may additionally provide daycare and tuition reimbursement, as well as the chance to make extra money by working overtime or shift differentials.
How to Become a Critical Care Nurse
Nurses who work in critical care have a unique blend of knowledge, skills, experience, and compassion. They must be able to make swift and confident judgments on behalf of their patients, and this level of competence begins with their education. The following is the typical schedule for becoming a critical care nurse:
ADN, BSN, or MSN degrees take 2–5 years to complete.
NCLEX-RN test success
2 years of clinical patient care experience
Step 1: Become a Registered Nurse
Begin with becoming a Registered Nurse, which may be accomplished with an Associates' Degree in Nursing. However, most institutions now demand at least a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, with a Master of Science in Nursing preferred. They must pass the NCLEX-RN after completing this degree in order to obtain licensure and work in the United States.
Step 2: Obtain Experience
Then you'll need to work for at least two years, ideally with a varied group of patients to guarantee their comfort with a variety of diseases as well as their critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills.
Step 3: Acquire Certifications
Nurses who want to establish themselves as critical care experts can do so by working in various areas and proving their skills, as well as obtaining certifications granted by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Among them are:
Adult, Pediatric, or Neonatal Critical Care Registered Nurses (CCRNs) provide direct care to critically sick patients.
Adult, pediatric, or neonatal CCRN-Ks influence but do not provide direct treatment to critically sick patients.
CCRN-E (Adult), which provides care for sick people from afar.
Adult PCCN-K, influencing but not directly caring for severely unwell individuals
Outlook
Because of the nationwide nurse crisis, practically every sort of nursing profession is in high demand, including critical care nursing. Indeed, a considerable portion of people now employed in critical and acute care nursing are leaving the field for a number of reasons, increasing the need for these experts.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of registered nurses is predicted to expand by 12% between 2018 and 2028, owing to a greater emphasis on preventative care, rising chronic disease rates, and population aging. When you add in the unique circumstances that are causing critical care nurses to retire early, hospitals and other organizations are scrambling to hire more people.
Continuing Education
Nurses who have achieved specialist certificates in critical care can exhibit their commitment to excellence in their disciplines by renewing their credentials. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses offers these certification renewals, each with its unique set of qualifications. All require completion of Continuing Education Recognition Points in various areas of study and clinical practice hours spent dealing with critically critical patients, and they include a wide range of learning themes and activities. Learn more about nurse continuing education requirements here.
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