Acute Care Nurses

Job Description:

•  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.

Duties and Tasks:

• 1) Provide formal and informal education to other staff members.
• 2) Coordinate billing activities with supervising physicians.
• 3) Participate in the development of practice protocols.
• 4) Perform administrative duties that facilitate admission, transfer, or discharge of patients.
• 5) Participate in patients’ care meetings and conferences.
  
• 6) Refer patients for specialty consultations or treatments.
• 7) Assist patients in organizing their health care system activities.
• 8) Assess the needs of patients’ family members or caregivers.
• 9) Analyze the indications, contraindications, risk complications, and cost-benefit tradeoffs of therapeutic interventions.
• 10) Diagnose acute or chronic conditions that could result in rapid physiological deterioration or life-threatening instability.
• 11) Distinguish between normal and abnormal developmental and age-related physiological and behavioral changes in acute, critical, and chronic illness.
• 12) Manage patients’ pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, monitoring patients’ responses, and changing care plans accordingly.
• 13) Interpret information obtained from electrocardiograms (EKGs) or radiographs (x-rays).
• 14) Perform emergency medical procedures, such as basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and other condition stabilizing interventions.
• 15) Assess urgent and emergent health conditions using both physiologically and technologically derived data.
• 16) Adjust settings on patients’ assistive devices such as temporary pacemakers.
• 17) 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.
• 18) Discuss illnesses and treatments with patients and family members.
• 19) Treat wounds or superficial lacerations.
• 20) Obtain specimens or samples for laboratory work.
• 21) Collaborate with members of multidisciplinary health care teams to plan, manage, or assess patient treatments.
• 22) Document data related to patients’ care including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes.
• 23) Set up, operate, or monitor invasive equipment and devices such as colostomy or tracheotomy equipment, mechanical ventilators, catheters, gastrointestinal tubes, and central lines.
• 24) Order, perform, or interpret the results of diagnostic tests and screening procedures based on assessment results, differential diagnoses, and knowledge about age, gender and health status of clients.
• 25) Prescribe medications and observe patients’ reactions, modifying prescriptions as needed.
• 26) Administer blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions.
• 27) Collaborate with patients to plan for future health care needs or to coordinate transitions and referrals.
• 28) Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in acute care.

Activities:

• 1) Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
• 2) Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• 3) Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• 4) Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• 5) Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• 6) Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• 7) Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• 8) Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
• 9) Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• 7) Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• 8) Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
• 9) Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• 10) Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
• 11) Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
• 12) Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• 13) Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• 14) Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
• 15) Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form
• 16) Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
• 17) Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
• 18) Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates — Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
• 19) Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
• 20) Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
• 21) Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
• 22) Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
• 23) Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
• 24) Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• 25) Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• 26) Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
• 27) Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• 28) Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
• 29) Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
• 30) Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
• 31) Staffing Organizational Units — Recruiting, interviewing, selecting, hiring, and promoting employees in an organization.
• 32) Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
• 33) Provide Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
• 34) Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
• 35) Monitoring and Controlling Resources — Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.
• 36) Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.

Abilities:

• 1) Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand
• 2) Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• 3) Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 4) Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• 5) Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• 6) Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• 7) Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• 8) Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• 9) Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• 10) Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• 11) Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
• 12) Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• 13) Arm-Hand Steadiness — The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
• 14) Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• 15) Flexibility of Closure — The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
• 16) Perceptual Speed — The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
• 17) Finger Dexterity — The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
• 18) Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
• 19) Manual Dexterity — The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
• 20) Control Precision — The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
• 21) Multilimb Coordination — The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
• 22) Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• 23) Speed of Closure — The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
• 24) Hearing Sensitivity — The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.

Knowledge

• 1) Therapy and Counseling — Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
  
• 2) Medicine and Dentistry — Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• 3) Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• 4) Psychology — Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• 5) English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 6) Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• 7) Biology — Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• 8) Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• 9) Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• 10) Chemistry — Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• 11) Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions

Definition:

Nursing professionals provide treatment, support and care services for people who are in need of nursing care due to the effects of ageing, injury, illness or other physical or mental impairment, or potential risks to health. They assume responsibility for the planning and management of the care of patients, including the supervision of other health care workers, working autonomously or in teams with medical doctors and others in the practical application of preventive and curative measures.