Critical Care Nurse

Critical care patients typically stay in the intensive care unit of a hospital. Admittedly, it’s not a very cheery place, as many of the patients are terminally ill or even on life support.

Although the death rate in the critical care unit (or intensive care unit) is higher than other units, many patients here do survive and recover. Whether or not they have a great chance of surviving though, the goal of a Critical Care Nurse is to provide outstanding care for them. So in addition to your nursing talents, as Critical Care Nurse you also provide sympathy, counseling, and a shoulder to cry on.

You monitor vital signs, change bandages, and take careful notes. You also physically move the patient and address skin issues. To keep the patient comfortable, you bathe them, change the bedding and gowns, and administer medication.

Communication is a huge portion of your job. You discuss symptoms and changes in the patient’s condition with Doctors. Because you typically work a shift, you get information from the Nurse you are relieving, and pass it on to the Nurse who takes over for you. You often work with one patient and his or her family at a time, so you provide updates, answer questions, and explain procedures and medicinal changes.

As a Critical Care Nurse, you help the critically ill return to health, and the terminally ill pass on with the least amount of pain. Because of that, you take pride in the fact that you make the process easier, both for the patient and the family.