Critical Care Nursing

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What do you mean by Critical Care Nursing and who are critical care nurses? Critical Care Nursing is related to that specialty within nursing, where critical care is offered to patient, where his/her is facing life-threatening problems.


Similarly, a critical care nurse can be defined as a specialized licensed professional nurse, who is trained through education, knowledge, skills and experience to provide optimum acute and critical care to critically ill patients that are facing serious life threatening and other serious complex problems, are highly vulnerable and unstable. A critical care nurse offers intense and vigilant nursing care to these vulnerable patients.

The basic job duties and responsibilities of critical care nurses in US is concentrated to hospitals settings, practicing in places, such as intensive care units, pediatric ICUs, neonatal ICUs, cardiac care units, cardiac catheter labs, telemetry units, progressive care units, emergency departments and recovery rooms, where critically ill patients are located. Other than these units, these nurses also practice in home healthcare, where hospital discharged patients is located, nursing schools, outpatient surgery centers, clinic and others.

Their basic duties in these units are for assessment of critical or complex situations, high-intensity therapies and interventions and providing continuous nursing vigilance to critically ill patients. They also offer direct patient care planning and prescribing pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment for health problems. It is also essential that they execute their duties with compassion, respecting and supporting the patient’s belief and putting humanity touch on their caring.


The certification for critical care nursing can be obtained through a national advisory board, known as the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, which also sets minimum standard for Critical nurses and their education. The certification received by these nurses is known as CCRN, though CCRN does not mean Critical Care Registered Nurse but certification for critical care nurse.

The basic requirement for becoming a Critical Nurse is to become a RN by passing NCLEX exam after earning diploma in nursing, an associate’s degree in nursing (ADN) or a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN).