Acute Care Nurses

• Manage patients' pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, monitoring patients' responses, and changing care plans accordingly.
• Document data related to patients' care including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes.
• Diagnose acute or chronic conditions that could result in rapid physiological deterioration or life-threatening instability.
• Administer blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions.
• Assess urgent and emergent health conditions using both physiologically and technologically derived data.
• Assess the impact of illnesses or injuries on patients' health, function, growth, development, nutrition, sleep, rest, quality of life, or family, social and educational relationships.
• Interpret information obtained from electrocardiograms (EKGs) or radiographs (x-rays).
• Obtain specimens or samples for laboratory work.
• Collaborate with patients to plan for future health care needs or to coordinate transitions and referrals.
• Refer patients for specialty consultations or treatments.
• 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.
• Distinguish between normal and abnormal developmental and age-related physiological and behavioral changes in acute, critical, and chronic illness.
• Collaborate with members of multidisciplinary health care teams to plan, manage, or assess patient treatments.
• Assess the needs of patients' family members or caregivers.
• Perform administrative duties that facilitate admission, transfer, or discharge of patients.
• Provide formal and informal education to other staff members.
• Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in acute care.
• Treat wounds or superficial lacerations.
• Participate in patients' care meetings and conferences.
• Participate in the development of practice protocols.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Acute Care Nurses.

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Acute Care Nurses.