Do you love excitement? Are you able to think fast on your feet and make split-second decisions? Are you a nurse or thinking about nursing as a career? If you answered yes to these questions then critical care nursing may be the career for you. Keep reading and discover more about the world of critical care nursing.
An Introduction to Critical Care Nursing
So what is critical care nursing? It is a nursing specialty that involves the care of those patients who are critically ill. These patients are considered high risk and they have life-threatening health problems. Some of these patients will require extremely intensive nursing care and constant monitoring.
What are the specific duties of a critical care nurse?A critical care nurse is responsible for caring for the patient and his or her family. Registered nurses who specialize in critical care conduct complex assessment of patient conditions and provide highly intense treatments. The nurse must also learn to respect the values and rights of the patient. She must intervene for those patients who are unable to speak for themselves in serious situations that require immediate action.
This is where thinking critically and quickly come into play. The critical nurse is responsible for monitoring and safeguarding the quality of care that the patient receives. Another important duty of the critical care nurse is to educate the patient and the family members so they are able to make informed decisions about the patient’s care.
So how do you become a critical care nurse? First of all, you must choose a career in nursing and earn an Associate degree or a Bachelor’s degree as a Registered Nurse. Certification is not mandatory to practice but many nurses prefer to move forward by getting their critical care certification. It is mostly “on the job” training as you gain experience by working in the areas you are interested in. If you are a new nurse, it would be beneficial for you to start out on a medical surgical unit to get the basics down before moving on to the more critical care units.
Some nurses will choose to continue their education and become certified clinical nurse specialists. This takes a master’s degree and additional training. A clinical nurse specialist is not the only certification that a critical care nurse can receive. There are many certifications that may be obtained depending on the area of critical care that the nurse chooses to work. Some of these certifications are for nurses who work in progressive care such as step-down units, telemetry wards and direct observation units.
Advances in healthcare have come so far in the last few years that patients in the critical care units are sicker than ever. The critical care patients of five or ten years ago are now being cared for on the medical floors or at home. The critical care patient of today is someone who would never have survived a few years ago. As medical procedures and knowledge advance, so does the need for more critical care nurses.
The future of critical care nursing is wide open. The current nursing shortage has taken its toll on specialty nursing, including critical care. Hospitals are now offering attractive sign-on bonuses, relocation expenses and other forms of reimbursement to attract much needed critical care nurses. One of the big advantages to being a critical care nurse is that your patient load would be a lot lighter. Instead of working on a medical floor where the nurse to patient ratio can be as high as 8:1 or even higher, a critical care nurse, especially ICU nurses will have 2:1 or sometimes 3:1. This can still be a stressful situation, but with the lower ratio, you are able to give the care that your critical patient needs.
So if you are considering a nursing career, you may want to look into critical care nursing. You can choose an online critical care nursing course or select a traditional nursing college or university. Critical care nursing continuing education will also be a part of your ongoing medical education. A critical care nursing salary can provide an excellent standard of living; in fact, a critical care nursing average salary is on par with many other non-medical top-level professions.
The demand for critical care nurses is expected to rise because of the advances in modern medicine. There has been some speculation that in the coming years, all hospitals will turn into critical care centers. So getting your critical care experience now can help secure your job for the future.
