Critical Care Nurses
Health ScienceO*NET 29-1141.03United States
Provide specialized nursing care for patients in critical or coronary care units.
- Median annual earnings
- $97,284
- Projected change
- +8.7%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 3.47M jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
50% of the workforce
Growing to 3.77M by 2035
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Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What critical care nurses do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Evaluate patients' vital signs or laboratory data to determine emergency intervention needs.
- Monitor patients for changes in status and indications of conditions such as sepsis or shock and institute appropriate interventions.
- Administer medications intravenously, by injection, orally, through gastric tubes, or by other methods.
- Monitor patients' fluid intake and output to detect emerging problems, such as fluid and electrolyte imbalances.
- Compile and analyze data obtained from monitoring or diagnostic tests.
- Prioritize nursing care for assigned critically ill patients, based on assessment data or identified needs.
- Conduct pulmonary assessments to identify abnormal respiratory patterns or breathing sounds that indicate problems.
- Assess patients' pain levels or sedation requirements.
- Collaborate with other health care professionals to develop and revise treatment plans, based on identified needs and assessment data.
- Document patients' medical histories and assessment findings.
- Collect specimens for laboratory tests.
- Set up and monitor medical equipment and devices such as cardiac monitors, mechanical ventilators and alarms, oxygen delivery devices, transducers, or pressure lines.
- Administer blood and blood products, monitoring patients for signs and symptoms related to transfusion reactions.
- Advocate for patients' and families' needs, or provide emotional support for patients and their families.
- Assess family adaptation levels and coping skills to determine whether intervention is needed.
- Perform approved therapeutic or diagnostic procedures, based upon patients' clinical status.
- Assist physicians with procedures such as bronchoscopy, endoscopy, endotracheal intubation, or elective cardioversion.
- Document patients' treatment plans, interventions, outcomes, or plan revisions.
- Identify malfunctioning equipment or devices.
- Supervise and monitor unit nursing staff.
- Identify patients at risk of complications due to nutritional status.
- Assess patients' psychosocial status and needs, including areas such as sleep patterns, anxiety, grief, anger, and support systems.
- Identify patients' age-specific needs and alter care plans as necessary to meet those needs.
- Participate in professional organizations and continuing education to improve practice knowledge and skills.
- Participate in the development, review, or evaluation of nursing practice protocols.
- Coordinate patient care conferences.
- Provide post-mortem care.
- Plan, provide, or evaluate educational programs for nursing staff, interdisciplinary health care team members, or community members.
- Ensure that equipment or devices are properly stored after use.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $68,460
- 25th percentile
- $79,944
- 50th percentile
- $97,284
- 75th percentile
- $112,340
- 90th percentile
- $138,278
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $97,284 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+8.7%faster than average
20253,471,661 jobs
2035 projected3,774,431 jobs
302,770 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 50%
- Associate degree
- 35.7%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 14.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01ICU Registered Nurses28,974 postings
- 02ICU Travel Registered Nurses9,607 postings
- 03Critical Care Registered Nurses6,920 postings
- 04Cardiovascular ICU Registered Nurses5,726 postings
- 05NICU Registered Nurses5,048 postings
- 06ICU/CCU Registered Nurses2,443 postings
- 07Neuro ICU Registered Nurses2,385 postings
- 08Intensive Care Registered Nurses2,056 postings
- 09PICU Registered Nurses2,000 postings
- 10Critical Care Nurses1,856 postings
- 11Cardiovascular Intensive Care Registered Nurses1,441 postings
- 12Medical Surgical Registered Nurses1,185 postings
- 13Cardiovascular Travel Registered Nurses1,036 postings
- 14Step Down Registered Nurses1,014 postings
- 15Critical Care Travel Registered Nurses992 postings
- 16Emergency Room Registered Nurses988 postings
- 17Cardiac ICU Registered Nurses966 postings
- 18IMCU Registered Nurses873 postings
- 19Surgical ICU Registered Nurses797 postings
- 20Neuro Trauma ICU Registered Nurses764 postings
Top employers
- 01Soliant Health5,444 postings
- 02CHRISTUS Health2,750 postings
- 03HCA Healthcare2,728 postings
- 04Aya Healthcare2,717 postings
- 05Yale New Haven Health2,345 postings
- 06AMN Healthcare2,308 postings
- 07Medical Solutions2,152 postings
- 08Albany Medical Center1,955 postings
- 09Accountable Healthcare Staffing1,554 postings
- 10American Traveler1,527 postings
- 11Triage Staffing1,478 postings
- 12MedPro Healthcare Staffing1,363 postings
- 13Titan Medical1,343 postings
- 14Ingenovis Health1,309 postings
- 15Fusion Medical Staffing1,303 postings
- 16UCHealth (Colorado)1,244 postings
- 17Mercy1,240 postings
- 18Supplemental Health Care1,223 postings
- 19Gifted Healthcare1,094 postings
- 20Prime Time Healthcare1,000 postings
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