About This Career

Provides 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.

This career is part of the Health Science cluster Therapeutic Services pathway.

A person in this career:

• Performs emergency medical procedures, such as basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and other condition-stabilizing interventions.
• Manages patients' pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, monitoring patients' responses, and changing care plans accordingly.
• Documents data related to patients' care, including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes.
• Diagnoses acute or chronic conditions that could result in rapid physiological deterioration or life-threatening instability.
• Administers blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions.
• Assesses urgent and emergent health conditions, using both physiologically and technologically derived data.
• Assesses the impact of illnesses or injuries on patients' health, function, growth, development, nutrition, sleep, rest, quality of life, or family, social and educational relationships.
• Interprets information obtained from electrocardiograms (EKGs) or radiographs (x-rays).
• Obtains specimens or samples for laboratory work.
• Collaborates with patients to plan for future health care needs or to coordinate transitions and referrals.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 10 lbs., sometimes up to 20 lbs. You might do a lot of walking or standing, or you might sit but use your arms and legs to control machines, equipment or tools.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposed to disease and infections more than once a month through work such as patient care, laboratory work, and sanitation control
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Rotating shift work
• Weekend work