Nurses have been playing an important role in every aspect of healthcare. One main reason is they are the ones closest to patients and every critical change would be required to report to the doctor. Beside traditional med-surg staff nurse, nurses in the other departments help to contribute to the performance of patients as well. Intensive care nurses are the people who specialized in providing the optimal care for critically ill and unstable patients. They often work in the Intensive Care Unit departments at the hospital in different areas such as adults, pediatrics and infants. Not only hospitals but also nursing homes or outpatient facilities have intensive care nurses as well. During the working hour, they are usually assigned to only 1 or 2 patients at most to maximize attention to these patients because they have life-threatening problems that needed to be taken care of 24 hours a day. Intensive care nurses need to make sure the patients as well as their family members get the best care possible throughout their stay at the hospital.
History of Intensive Care Unit …show more content…
Additionally, it depends on the practical experience of the nurses as well as their levels of knowledge or degrees. According to the Nurse Zone, the average salary of ICU nurses was $68,028 as of January, 2013. This rate makes critical care nurses as one of the 15 highest paying nursing careers. Generally, most of the nurses in the Intensive Care Unit are registered nurses who got either Bachelor degree or Associate degree in nursing. The critical care nurses can expand their knowledge or get a higher position by achieving advanced practice status after earning a Master or Doctor degree. From that point, they can become ICU nurse practitioners not only in the ICU departments but also in Pediatrics or Cardiology