What Do Acute Care Nurse Do?
Example of Acute Care Nurse Job 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.
Life As an Acute Care Nurse: What Do They Do?
- Set up, operate, or monitor invasive equipment and devices such as colostomy or tracheotomy equipment, mechanical ventilators, catheters, gastrointestinal tubes, and central lines.
- Participate in the development of practice protocols.
- Treat wounds or superficial lacerations.
- Analyze the indications, contraindications, risk complications, and cost-benefit tradeoffs of therapeutic interventions.
- Distinguish between normal and abnormal developmental and age-related physiological and behavioral changes in acute, critical, and chronic illness.
- Collaborate with patients to plan for future health care needs or to coordinate transitions and referrals.
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Acute Care Nurse Required Skills
Acute Care Nurses state the following job skills are important in their day-to-day work.
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.
Types of Acute Care Nurse
- Clinical Nurse Educator
- Nursing Director
- Admission Nurse Coordinator
- Chronic Condition Nurse
- Preceptor
Is There Job Demand for Acute Care Nurses?
There were about 2,955,200 jobs for Acute Care Nurse in 2016 (in the United States). New jobs are being produced at a rate of 14.8% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 438,000 new jobs for Acute Care Nurse by 2026. Due to new job openings and attrition, there will be an average of 203,700 job openings in this field each year.

The states with the most job growth for Acute Care Nurse are Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Watch out if you plan on working in Rhode Island, Wisconsin, or Connecticut. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Acute Care Nurse Average Salary
Acute Care Nurses make between $50,800 and $106,530 a year.

Acute Care Nurses who work in Hawaii, California, or Oregon, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Acute Care Nurses in different U.S. states.
State | Annual Mean Salary |
---|---|
Alabama | $59,470 |
Alaska | $89,310 |
Arizona | $77,000 |
Arkansas | $60,780 |
California | $106,950 |
Colorado | $74,240 |
Connecticut | $81,220 |
Delaware | $74,800 |
District of Columbia | $92,350 |
Florida | $66,210 |
Georgia | $68,950 |
Hawaii | $98,080 |
Idaho | $67,110 |
Illinois | $73,890 |
Indiana | $64,860 |
Iowa | $59,130 |
Kansas | $61,030 |
Kentucky | $63,100 |
Louisiana | $63,970 |
Maine | $67,610 |
Maryland | $76,820 |
Massachusetts | $92,140 |
Michigan | $71,330 |
Minnesota | $78,920 |
Mississippi | $58,490 |
Missouri | $65,130 |
Montana | $67,450 |
Nebraska | $64,470 |
Nevada | $85,620 |
New Hampshire | $72,760 |
New Jersey | $82,750 |
New Mexico | $71,730 |
New York | $85,610 |
North Carolina | $64,850 |
North Dakota | $65,740 |
Ohio | $66,820 |
Oklahoma | $63,080 |
Oregon | $91,080 |
Pennsylvania | $70,390 |
Rhode Island | $78,420 |
South Carolina | $64,940 |
South Dakota | $58,340 |
Tennessee | $61,320 |
Texas | $72,890 |
Utah | $65,670 |
Vermont | $69,160 |
Virginia | $69,790 |
Washington | $82,670 |
West Virginia | $61,780 |
Wisconsin | $71,470 |
Wyoming | $67,360 |
Tools & Technologies Used by Acute Care Nurses
Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Acute Care Nurses may use on a daily basis:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Access
- SAP software
- IBM Lotus Notes
- GE Healthcare Centricity EMR
- Bizmatics PrognoCIS EMR
- eClinicalWorks
- SOAPware EMR
- Allscripts Professional EHR
- e-MDs software
- ChartWare EMR
- NextGen Healthcare Information Systems EMR
- Cerner Millennium
- SynaMed EMR
- Texas Medical Software SpringCharts EMR
- MicroFour PracticeStudio.NET EMR
How to Become an Acute Care Nurse
Learn what Acute Care Nurse education requirements there are.

How Long Does it Take to Become an Acute Care Nurse?

Where Acute Care Nurses Work

Acute Care Nurses work in the following industries:

References:
Image Credit: Aleksahgabrielle via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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