Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Critical Care Nurses
Provide specialized nursing care for patients in critical or coronary care units.
MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
Source wage group: Registered Nurses
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Critical Care Nurses. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Median annual wage$97,550USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Median hourly wage$46.90USD per hour · Published 50th percentile
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $68,940 | $33.14 |
| 25th | $80,330 | $38.62 |
| 50th · Median | $97,550 | $46.90 |
| 75th | $112,350 | $54.02 |
| 90th | $137,470 | $66.09 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
CCU RN (Cardiac Care Unit Registered Nurse)CCU RN (Coronary Care Unit Registered Nurse)CCU RN (Critical Care Unit Registered Nurse)Certified Critical Care NurseCritical Care Nurse (CCN)Critical Care Nurse PractitionerCritical Care Nurse SpecialistCritical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN)Critical Care Unit NurseCVICU RN (Cardiac ICU Registered Nurse)CVICU RN (Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse)ER RN (Emergency Room Registered Nurse)
Expand more title examples (26)
ICU Critical Care NP (Intensive Care Unit Critical Care Nurse Practitioner)ICU Nurse (Intensive Care Unit Nurse)ICU Travel RN (Intensive Care Unit Travel Registered Nurse)Intensive Care Registered Nurse (Intensive Care RN)Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse (ICU RN)Neonatal Critical Care NurseNeonatal Intensive Care NurseNeuro ICU RN (Neuro Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse)Neuro ICU RN (Neurological Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse)Neuro ICU RN (Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse)Newborn ICU RN (Newborn Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse)NICU RN (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse)NursePCU RN (Progressive Care Unit Registered Nurse)Pediatric Critical Care NursePediatric Critical Care Nurse PractitionerPICU RN (Pediatric Intensive Care Registered Nurse)PICU RN (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurse)Progressive Care NurseRegistered Nurse (RN)Staff NurseStep Down RN (Step Down Registered Nurse)Step-Down NurseTelemetry NurseTrauma RN (Trauma Registered Nurse)Vascular Nurse
Typical tasks
- Evaluate patients' vital signs or laboratory data to determine emergency intervention needs.
- Monitor patients for changes in status and indications of conditions such as sepsis or shock and institute appropriate interventions.
- Administer medications intravenously, by injection, orally, through gastric tubes, or by other methods.
- Monitor patients' fluid intake and output to detect emerging problems, such as fluid and electrolyte imbalances.
- Prioritize nursing care for assigned critically ill patients, based on assessment data or identified needs.
- Compile and analyze data obtained from monitoring or diagnostic tests.
Expand more tasks (23)
- Conduct pulmonary assessments to identify abnormal respiratory patterns or breathing sounds that indicate problems.
- Assess patients' pain levels or sedation requirements.
- Collaborate with other health care professionals to develop and revise treatment plans, based on identified needs and assessment data.
- Document patients' medical histories and assessment findings.
- Collect specimens for laboratory tests.
- Set up and monitor medical equipment and devices such as cardiac monitors, mechanical ventilators and alarms, oxygen delivery devices, transducers, or pressure lines.
- Administer blood and blood products, monitoring patients for signs and symptoms related to transfusion reactions.
- Advocate for patients' and families' needs, or provide emotional support for patients and their families.
- Assess family adaptation levels and coping skills to determine whether intervention is needed.
- Perform approved therapeutic or diagnostic procedures, based upon patients' clinical status.
- Assist physicians with procedures such as bronchoscopy, endoscopy, endotracheal intubation, or elective cardioversion.
- Supervise and monitor unit nursing staff.
- Identify malfunctioning equipment or devices.
- Document patients' treatment plans, interventions, outcomes, or plan revisions.
- Identify patients at risk of complications due to nutritional status.
- Assess patients' psychosocial status and needs, including areas such as sleep patterns, anxiety, grief, anger, and support systems.
- Identify patients' age-specific needs and alter care plans as necessary to meet those needs.
- Participate in professional organizations and continuing education to improve practice knowledge and skills.
- Participate in the development, review, or evaluation of nursing practice protocols.
- Coordinate patient care conferences.
- Provide post-mortem care.
- Plan, provide, or evaluate educational programs for nursing staff, interdisciplinary health care team members, or community members.
- Ensure that equipment or devices are properly stored after use.
Skills used in this work
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- 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.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Expand more skills (29)
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
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