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Job descriptions
We live in a world wherein medical care becomes a very important part of the aging process. As we near the end of our life cycle, we find ourselves requiring more and more specialized medical care both at home and in the hospital. As such, nurses have slowly come to realize that additional information and training becomes necessary in order to keep abreast of the times. This is why Registered Nurses have slowly become aware of the need for specialized nursing skills in the ICU.
Intensive Care Unit Nurses are those specially trained nurses who handle critical care patients with life-threatening conditions within the confines of the Intensive Care Unit. These are usually patients who have had major surgery, are recovering from accidents, or experiencing multiple organ failures. These nurses, in other words, handle those patients who are caught on the demarcation line between life and death. Part of their duties and responsibilities, including assessing and monitoring patients in case their medical state should take a serious turn. According to Futures In Nursing (2003) ICU patients who are admitted to critical care tend to be medically unstable, requiring constant cardiac and respiratory monitoring and continual adjustment of treatments, such as the titration and dosing of multiple intravenous medications and changes in ventilatory support. Critical care nurses must be able to interpret, integrate and respond to a wide array of clinical information. Because of the critical nature of patients conditions, nurses working in critical care are often confronted with dealing with end-of-life issues and sometimes other ethical dilemmas related to withholding, withdrawing or medical futile care.
Education and Certification
Certification and registration for ICU Nurares are actually optional. However, most nurses prefer to become certified through a job-related examination. In order to even qualify for the exam, the nurse must have been practicing critical care for at least 2 years. The certification is good for 3 years during which time the ICU nurse is expected to have continued extensive education and clinical experience requirements. These certified nurses are known as CCRNs or Certified Critical Care Nurses.
Normally, the so called critical care nurses must be certified and licenseds as Registered nurses. After which the specific employer provided continuing education classes then become a necessity in acquiring the position. Due to the complexity of the work related to ICU nursing, ICU nurses now find it necessary to earn masters or doctoral degrees in nursing. Normally an RN would end up enrolling in masters classes specializing in Critical Care for at least 16 months in schools such as the Georgetown School of Nursing. This is after working as a regular nurse for at least 1 year. ACLS certification is required along with 1-2 years of medical or surgical experience.
Employment
Due to our rapidly aging population, the demand for ICU nurses will only continue to grow in the coming years. Due to the already existing nursing shortage, expect that there will be a rapid influx of nurses training within this area in the near future. The skyrocketing demand for Critical care nurses finds hospitals offering various come-ons in order to entice nurses to shift to ICU nursing. The American Association Of Critical Care Nurses (2008) indicated these incentives as sign-on bonuses, relocation bonuses, reimbursement for continuing education and certification, and other attractive benefits. In addition, many hospitals are launching critical care orientation and internship programs, such as the Web-based Essentials of Critical Care (ECCO) program, to attract and prepare experienced and newly licensed nurses to work in critical care.
A quick check with the U.S Department of Labor shows why the hospitals are offering such lucrative incentives, 587,000 new ICU Nursing related jobs are expected to open up across the United States alone by the year 2016. The salary offerings for the position are also highly competitive. With each hospital trying to outdo each other in terms of benefits and perks. Even the starting salary offered on a per hour basis starts at higher than average. Starting rates vary between $30 and $33 per hour.
Job advancement in the area solely depends upon the requirements of the hospital employer and the patience of the ICU RN to continue studying various specialized nursing fields related to ICU nursing. For further career advancement opportunities and in order to keep abreast with CCN trends, ICU nurses can join the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, as well as any local nursing organizations endorsed by their hospital or state.
Professional Activities
As a student of Critical Care Nursing, one would benefit education wise from subscribing to various CCN magazines and journals available on the market. One can procure a subscription to the American Journal Of Critical Care or purchase the Nursing Critical Care Journal which is published 6 times a year at the price of $29.94. Such journals contain vital discoveries and articles pertaining to Critical Care Nursing practitioners.
Furthermore, it is believed that continuous education is of the utmost importance in achieving a degree of professionalism in this field. Jut like a doctor never finishes studying in his field of specialty, so does an Intensive Care Nurse. How many course and how often one working in this field will have to study all depends upon the requirements and needs of their current hospital employer.
Conclusion/ reflections
As I spent time researching the requirements and answers to the required questions within this paper, I have drawn the conclusion that I am but one of the few who has the major calling to care for my fellowman via a nursing career that specializes in Intensive Care Nursing. Since I have parents who continue to age and will, in the future, require specialized nursing care as well, I feel that I have made the right decision.
Personal Discovery
Finding out that the career opportunities are not limited to simply being a Critical Care nurse in the ICU was the deal breaker for me. Some people view nursing as the dead end profession of the medical field. The things I discovered during my research proved that nothing could be further from the truth. Amongst all the medical fields, CCN is the most challenging because of the highly strict requirements one must meet in order to even be considered for entrance to a educational institution that requires one to be a Registered Nurse before even considering one for any other position in the nursing field.
References
Critical Care Nurses, American Association Of. (2009). American journal of critical care. Web.
Critical Care Nurses, American Association Of. (2008). About critical care nursing.
Critical Care Nurses, American Association Of. (2009). Continuing nursing education program approval.
Ferguson. (2008). Encyclopedia.
Mitchell, Joyce, & Haroun, Lee. (2005). Introduction to health care. Singapore: Thomson Learning
Novonty, Jean M., Lippman,Doris T., Sanders, & Fitzpartick, Joyce J. (2003). 101 Careers in nursing. New York: Spring Publishing Company.
Nursing, Critical Care. (2009). Nursing 2009 critical care.
swimmer2007. (2007). Georgetown school of nursing (question regarding icu experience.
Nursing, Futures In. (2003). Nursing careers in spotlight: Critical care/ intensive care (ICU) nursing.
Nursezone.com. (2009). ICU and critical care nurses. Web.
RNSearch.com. (2009). Nursing education requirements for critical care.
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