Critical Care Nurse

10 Nov 2008

Critical care nurses (also known as intensive care or ICU nurses) deal with patients facing life-or-death illnesses or situations. Patients in intensive care units, whether adults or children, require around-the-clock nursing, careful assessment and rapid intervention.

Critical care nurses work in a wide variety of clinical settings including cardiac care units, emergency departments, recovery rooms, outpatient surgical centers, flight units, cardiac catheter labs and telemetry units. However, more than half of all critical care nurses work in hospitals.

Benefits
While the shortage of nurses is a national problem, the dilemma in critical care nursing is acute. Many hospitals are starting to offer critical care nurses such incentives as relocation packages, sign-on bonuses and finders’ fees for bringing in other critical care nurses. In addition, hospitals are offering continuing education and internship programs that allow new graduates to learn critical care nursing skills.

Despite the nursing shortage in this specialty, the salary range for critical care nurses is approximately that of other RNs. It ranges from $40,000 to $60,000 per year, depending on the clinical and geographic setting.

In addition to

Read More