Explore Jobs
Find Specific Jobs
Explore Careers
Explore Professions
Best Companies
Explore Companies
What is a critical care nurse and how to become one
What would you do if told that your care can heal a person who is in critical condition? If you answer is that you will do all that it takes, then you have what is required to be a critical care nurse. And it's worth mentioning that a practicing Critical Care Nurse gets around $26 per hour, more than enough to justify your time, care, and patience.
Nursing is a profession where the margin of error is zero, all the time, so you cannot jump into this profession right away. Instead, it would help if you get an Associate or Bachelors Degree in Nursing to be a licensed nurse. These programs will equip you with most of the health care knowledge and hands-on experience of dealing with patients. Also, you have to get supervised clinical experience before serving.
As a critical care nurse, you can serve in any hospital for 40 hours a week. Or can be hired to take care of patients in a critical condition at their home. Whatever you choose, stay calm and be kind hearted to help your patient heal faster.
What general advice would you give to a Critical Care Nurse?
Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Avg. Salary $76,788
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth Rate 6%
Growth Rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%
Asian 8.89%
Black or African American 11.70%
Hispanic or Latino 9.20%
Unknown 4.28%
White 65.49%
Genderfemale 81.11%
male 18.89%
Age - 43American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 43Stress level is very high
7.1 - high
Complexity Level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work Life balance is good
6.4 - fair
Newest jobs for Critical Care Nurse in ,
Receive alerts for the newest job postings.
Critical Care Nurse career paths
Key steps to become a critical care nurse
Explore critical care nurse education requirements
Start to develop specific critical care nurse skills
Skills 
Percentages Patients 30.62% BLS 10.77% Acls 7.61% Life Support 4.69% Quality Care 3.39% Complete relevant critical care nurse training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New critical care nurses learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a critical care nurse based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real critical care nurse resumes.Obtain the necessary licensing
Becoming a licensed critical care nurse usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed critical care nurse in most of states. 43 states require critical care nurses to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.State Education Exam License Url Alabama Degree required State exam required Registered Nurse (RN) Alaska Degree required Third-party exam required Nurse, Registered Arkansas Degree required Third-party exam required Registered Nurse (RN) California Degree required Third-party exam required Nurse, Registered Colorado Degree required Third-party exam required Registered Nurse Research critical care nurse duties and responsibilities
- Interpret laboratory results, EKG readings, cardiac monitors, managing medication drips, and ventilator settings.
- Monitor chemotherapy and administration of oral chemo medication, obtain laboratory specimens to manage client status via central lines.
- Work on the general units of rehabilitation, geriatrics, and telemetry.
- Work in critical care floors ranging from MICU to SICU to regular ICU.
Prepare your critical care nurse resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your critical care nurse resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a critical care nurse resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Critical Care Nurse Resume templates
Build a professional Critical Care Nurse resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Critical Care Nurse resume.
Apply for critical care nurse jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a critical care nurse job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How Did You Land Your First Critical Care Nurse Job
Are you a Critical Care Nurse?
Share your story for a free salary report.
Average critical care nurse salary
The average Critical Care Nurse salary in the United States is $76,788 per year or $37 per hour. Critical care nurse salaries range between $45,000 and $130,000 per year.
What Am I Worth?
How do critical care nurses rate their job?
Critical Care Nurse reviews
What is there not to like? It's such a rewarding job!
Staffing ratios, unfairness, constant expectations. Healthcare is a business but doesn’t treat nurses like business employees
helping people and saving lives
Critical Care Nurse FAQs
Search for critical care nurse jobs
Updated January 8, 2025
