The Critical Care Nurse in the Workplace

January 5th, 2011

One of the more exciting and thrilling fields in nursing is critical care – dealing primarily with patients facing life-threatening problems. Generally in charge of making sure that all critically ill patients along with their family members get the finest care, a critical care nurse plays an important role in the world of health care. Times have changed in the nursing industry and now there are specific nurses for precise roles and jobs. In the case of critical nurses, there have always been extremely sick and at times complex patients, but now we are seeing the need for nurses that specialize in particular skills and possess an understanding of medicine that differs from other nurses.

This is a type of medicine that puts men and women in an environment with patients that need multifaceted assessment and a great deal of therapy. In times of need, critical nurses depend on the talents and experience they have acquired to assist patients and their families by constructing an environment good for caring and healing. The primary duty of this type of nurse is to support any patient in need more than anyone and give this wounded person the care and attention they so desperately need in order for them to make a strong recovery.

Other responsibilities of critical care nurses entail working in a mix of other environments. Besides being at the bedside of a patient, they can be educating other nurses or serve as a manager of staff. To achieve this type of position, an education and training that goes beyond that of a standard registered nurse is required. Usually the majority of critical care nurses go through a training course that really goes into detail on how to care for those that are critically ill. Becoming certified in this arena only further assists you in finding full-time employment.

When you put forth the effort and go beyond the basic boundaries of other registered nurses you open the door to a wide variety of opportunities. This opportunity gives you the chance to help heal and recover those in critical need of such support. There is a rush that comes from saving a life or from the moment when a person is brought into the hospital that you find out is relying on you to keep living. Through a strong education and work experience, you will be able to take on this responsibility and bring a smile back to the face of not only your patient but his or her family.