A guide to ICU nurse duties and responsibilities

Understanding intensive care nurse duties and their role can be confusing, which is why we have written this blog to help explain the different ways that they provide care daily. Intensive care or intensive care unit (ICU) nurses work in specialised units within hospitals to treat people who are seriously ill or injured.

In the UK and Ireland, they are seen as highly trained healthcare professionals who provide intensive care to those with life-threatening conditions. They collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and other healthcare professionals in the hospital to provide a comprehensive approach to treating patients. Not only do intensive care nurses deliver highly skilled care to adults, but they also deliver care to children and babies in paediatric intensive care units within children’s hospitals.

What are the duties and responsibilities of an ICU nurse?

Intensive care nurses consistently deliver a high level of skilled care to patients throughout their careers. Some of the most important duties and responsibilities they will have include:

• Taking patient vitals
• Setting up IVs
• Administering medication
• Responding to medical emergencies and acting quickly in life-saving situations
• Modifying the patient’s treatment plan according to their level of consciousness and age
• Monitoring patient treatment
• Maintaining detailed patient records
• Collaborating with healthcare team members to implement effective patient care plans
• Operating medical equipment
• Performing diagnostic tests

Whilst ICU nurses carry out numerous critical tasks to ensure patients receive the best care, they also provide emotional support to patients and their families during what can be a very distressing time. Each day brings new challenges and the ability to assess and respond to patients’ needs promptly is key to succeeding in this role.

Skills needed to be a good intensive care nurse

When working as an ICU nurse, you will need to possess a range of skills to make sure you give the best quality of care to patients. Some of the crucial skills you will need to perform well in your job include:

• Quick decision-making and problem-solving
• Compassion and empathy
• Organisation and being able to multitask
• Communication and ability to work in a team
• Endurance and resilience

As you work in the intensive care department, you will develop your skills, helping you to get your next role.

Qualifications needed to become an ICU nurse

To become an ICU nurse, you will first need to decide which field of nursing you wish to study from the four areas of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and gain the relevant qualifications approved by the NMC, then register. Once you have completed a nursing degree through university or an apprenticeship, you will then be registered in your relevant area of the NMC register. Although for critical care nursing, we recommend you work towards joining the register as an adult nurse. However, if you are already registered as a paediatric nurse, you may work towards the role in some hospitals.

If you are based in Ireland, you will need to join the register for nurses and midwives which is regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).

After registering, you will need to gain relevant experience, e.g. in hospitals where you can work with patients in emergencies or in the ICU. You will typically need to gain two to five years of experience before you can become a certified ICU nurse.

When applying for critical care nursing jobs, you should look at the shift patterns to make sure they suit you. Many hospitals will ask you to work 12-hour shifts and will require lots of stamina, although it may differ between hospitals.

The different sub-specialisms within intensive care nursing

Intensive care in the UK and Ireland is vast and covers many departments in hospitals. Because of this, there are different subspecialisms that come under intensive care nursing. When most people refer to the different departments that treat patients with serious conditions, they will usually refer to the department as a critical care unit. Within this, you can find high-dependency units and intensive care/therapy units. These may be used interchangeably by different employers so it’s important to know before applying.

You may wish to work in other critical care units that specialise in looking after seriously ill children and babies. You could work in the following ICU departments if you wish to work in this area of specialism:

• Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Career progression for ICU nurses

ICU nurses can experience lots of career progression during their careers. A couple of the most popular roles that ICU nurses can progress to are charge nurse positions and ICU senior nurse roles. These opportunities come with the chance to become a mentor, complete a master’s course, or train in a specific ICU subject area, for example, advanced trauma nursing. With more experience and training, you could become a clinical educator for nursing students or even work in a critical care outreach team.

Explore ICU nursing opportunities with the Scottish Nursing Guild

Are you interested in pursuing agency nursing opportunities in Scotland or Ireland? If you hold a valid NMC or NMBI registration and have at least 12 months of recent ICU experience, you may qualify to join our team. Register with us today to explore your next career move!

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