Job Description: Provide advanced nursing care for patients with acute conditions such as heart attacks, respiratory distress syndrome, or shock. May care for pre- and post-operative patients or perform advanced, invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.
- Prescribe medications and observe patients' reactions, modifying prescriptions as needed.
- Set up, operate, or monitor invasive equipment and devices such as colostomy or tracheotomy equipment, mechanical ventilators, catheters, gastrointestinal tubes, and central lines.
- Discuss illnesses and treatments with patients and family members.
- Administer blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions.
- Analyze the indications, contraindications, risk complications, and cost-benefit tradeoffs of therapeutic interventions.
- Refer patients for specialty consultations or treatments.
What Skills Do You Need to Work as an Acute Care Nurse?
Below is a list of the skills most Acute Care Nurses say are important on the job.
- Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
- 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.
- Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
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