Critical Care Nurses
Provide specialized nursing care for patients in critical or coronary care units.
Also known as: CCU RN (Cardiac Care Unit Registered Nurse), CCU RN (Coronary Care Unit Registered Nurse), CCU RN (Critical Care Unit Registered Nurse), Certified Critical Care Nurse, Critical Care Nurse (CCN), Critical Care Nurse Practitioner, Critical Care Nurse Specialist, Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN), ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Projected growth, 2024–2034 (Faster than average)
What You'd Do
- Identify patients' age-specific needs and alter care plans as necessary to meet those needs.
- Provide post-mortem care.
- Evaluate patients' vital signs or laboratory data to determine emergency intervention needs.
- Perform approved therapeutic or diagnostic procedures, based upon patients' clinical status.
- Administer blood and blood products, monitoring patients for signs and symptoms related to transfusion reactions.
- Administer medications intravenously, by injection, orally, through gastric tubes, or by other methods.
- Advocate for patients' and families' needs, or provide emotional support for patients and their families.
- Set up and monitor medical equipment and devices such as cardiac monitors, mechanical ventilators and alarms, oxygen delivery devices, transducers, or pressure lines.
- Monitor patients' fluid intake and output to detect emerging problems, such as fluid and electrolyte imbalances.
- Monitor patients for changes in status and indications of conditions such as sepsis or shock and institute appropriate interventions.
- Assess patients' pain levels or sedation requirements.
- Assess patients' psychosocial status and needs, including areas such as sleep patterns, anxiety, grief, anger, and support systems.
- Collaborate with other health care professionals to develop and revise treatment plans, based on identified needs and assessment data.
- Collect specimens for laboratory tests.
- Compile and analyze data obtained from monitoring or diagnostic tests.
- Conduct pulmonary assessments to identify abnormal respiratory patterns or breathing sounds that indicate problems.
- Document patients' medical histories and assessment findings.
- Document patients' treatment plans, interventions, outcomes, or plan revisions.
- Identify patients at risk of complications due to nutritional status.
- Prioritize nursing care for assigned critically ill patients, based on assessment data or identified needs.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
Software and tools commonly used in this role
In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work
Related Careers
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.