Critical Care Nurse Is A Challenging And Rewarding Career
Critical care nurses are involved in some of the most difficult and demanding aspects of patients care. Due to the nature of the work, the long hours and high stress levels, there is a continued need for the critical care nurse within a variety of hospital departments along with and continuing care facilities.
All nurses involved in critical care must have completed a recognized nursing program prior to practicing. In the United States there are over 3,000 nursing programs, and a critical nurse must have completed a nursing program accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC).
For student nurses commencing their studies with an inclination towards critical care usually spend four years in an undergraduate program leading to a Bachelor of Science, followed by state certification to become a licensed RN or Registered Nurse. The four years spent in nursing school are divided between theory and clinical studies. Recent changes in technology mean that the nursing student has more surgical and diagnostic medical equipment to learn about, to properly care for the critically ill patient.
Part of a student nurse's program of study is work experience within a clinical or hospital setting. Like a doctor, a student nurse will rotate between wards, to learn as much as possible about patient care and procedures. Nurses wishing to work in critical care will often rotate between the Intensive Care Unit or (ICU) the head trauma unit or Neurosciences, as well as the Cardiac and Surgical units. Often nurse recruiters will recruit student nurses while they are doing their clinical training for their Bachelor of Science. Hospitals see the value in hiring new staff that they have helped train, and a student nurse interested in critical care often needs to look no further than the hospital where they did their residency. There are many vacancies for nurses in critical care units. The median salary for a new critical care nurse is at least $50, 000 annually, depending on the location, and city centre it can go as high as $65,000 per year. A day in the life of a critical nurse is not an easy one, especially if they are hired as a floater, meaning they work in several different departments at once. Critical care means dealing with patients in life or death situations. A nurse may be monitoring or assisting a patient in the trauma ward who they are trying to stabilize for surgery after an accident, or monitoring a patient who has undergone a heart transplant. During one day a nurse will come across trauma patients from all socio-economic backgrounds. Having good communication skills along with a healthy dose of compassion is essential. Nurses working with critical care patients often assist in surgical procedures along with assisting a patient in their recovery. They must know how to insert catheters, tubes and perform emergency intubations. Other less stressful tasks include monitoring blood pressure and glucose levels, and performing routine blood tests. For nurses who are not offered immediate employment during their residency there are other options to find work within their field. All registered critical care nurses belong to the State Nurses Association along with the American Nurses Association. These two bodies, not only influence how nursing policy is made, but assist critical nurses in their search for employment. By registering with these boards, a critical nurse is able to gain access to a job database going not only across the USA but the rest of the world. Critical care nurses are in demand with so many vacancies for nurses worldwide. Accidents will always occur, and due to our ever increasing technological knowledge we are able to perform more extensive and difficult surgeries than ever before. Nursing Recruiting agencies along with hospitals themselves almost always have openings for critical care nurses and the trend does not seem to show any possibility of slowing down.
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