Acute Care Nurses
Cardiac Interventional Care Nurse, Charge Nurse, Progressive Care Unit RN (Progressive Care Unit Registered Nurse), Staff Nurse
What they do:
Provide advanced nursing care for patients with acute conditions such as heart attacks, respiratory distress syndrome, or shock. May care for pre- and post-operative patients or perform advanced, invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.
On the job, you would:
- Perform emergency medical procedures, such as basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and other condition-stabilizing interventions.
- Manage patients' pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, monitoring patients' responses, and changing care plans accordingly.
- Document data related to patients' care, including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes.
Knowledge
Health
- medicine and dentistry
- therapy and counseling
Business
- customer service
Arts and Humanities
- English language
Education and Training
- teaching and course design
Skills
Basic Skills
- keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements
- listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
Problem Solving
- noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Social
- looking for ways to help people
- understanding people's reactions
Abilities
Verbal
- listen and understand what people say
- communicate by speaking
Ideas and Logic
- notice when problems happen
- make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
Attention
- pay attention to something without being distracted
- do two or more things at the same time
Personality
People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.
They do well at jobs that need:
- Integrity
- Stress Tolerance
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Adaptability/Flexibility
- Concern for Others
Technology
You might use software like this on the job:
Medical software
- eClinicalWorks EHR software
- GE Healthcare Centricity EMR
Presentation software
- Microsoft PowerPoint
Electronic mail software
- IBM Lotus Notes
- Microsoft Outlook
Education
Education: (rated 3 of 5)
associate's degree or
bachelor's degree
usually needed
bachelor's degree
usually needed
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
Explore More
- Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
- Clinical Nurse Specialists
- Critical Care Nurses
- Licensed Practical & Licensed Vocational Nurses
- Registered Nurses
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about acute care nurses.