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| Job Category |  | Healthcare Practitioners & Technical |
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| Job Description | | Registered nurses (RNs), regardless of specialty or work setting, perform basic duties that include treating patients, educating patients and the public about various medical conditions, and providing advice and emotional support to patients’ family members. RNs record patients’ medical histories and symptoms, help to perform diagnostic tests and analyze results, operate medical machinery, administer treatment and medications, and help with patient follow-up and rehabilitation.
RNs teach patients and their families how to manage their illness or injury, including post-treatment home care needs, diet and exercise programs, and self-administration of medication and physical therapy. Some RNs also are trained to provide grief counseling to family members of critically ill patients. RNs work to promote general health by educating the public on various warning signs and symptoms of disease and where to go for help. RNs also might run general health screening or immunization clinics, blood drives, and public seminars on various conditions.
RNs can specialize in one or more patient care specialties. The most common specialties can be divided into roughly four categories—by work setting or type of treatment; disease, ailment, or condition; organ or body system type; or population. RNs may combine specialties from more than one area—for example, pediatric oncology or cardiac emergency—depending on personal interest and employer needs.
RNs may specialize by work setting or by type of care provided. For example, ambulatory care nurses, critical care nurses, emergency, or trauma nurses, holistic nurses (treat patients’ mental and spiritual health in addition to their physical health), home health care nurses, hospice and palliative care nurses, infusion nurses (administer medications), long- term care nurses, medical-surgical nurses, occupational health nurses, perianesthesia nurses, perioperative nurses (assist surgeons ), psychiatric nurses, rehabilitation nurses, and transplant nurses (care for both transplant recipients and living donors).
RNs specializing in a particular disease, ailment, or condition are employed in virtually all work settings, including physicians’ offices, outpatient treatment facilities, home health care agencies, and hospitals. Examples are addictions nurses, developmental disabilities nurses, diabetes management nurses, genetics nurses (provide early detection screenings), HIV/AIDS nurses, oncology nurses, and finally, wound, ostomy, and continence nurses.
RNs specializing in treatment of a particular organ or body system usually are employed in specialty physicians’ offices or outpatient care facilities, although some are employed in hospital specialty or critical care units. For example: cardiac and vascular nurses, dermatology nurses, gastroenterology nurses, gynecology nurses, nephrology nurses, neuroscience nurses, ophthalmic nurses, otorhinolaryngology nurses (care for patients with ear, nose, and throat disorders), respiratory nurses, and urology nurses.
Finally, RNs may specialize by providing preventive and acute care in all health care settings to various segments of the population, including newborns (neonatology), children and adolescents (pediatrics), adults, and the elderly (gerontology or geriatrics). RNs also may provide basic health care to patients outside of health care settings in such venues as including correctional facilities, schools, summer camps, and the military. Some RNs travel around the United States and abroad providing care to patients in areas with shortages of medical professionals.
Most RNs work as staff nurses, providing critical health care services along with physicians, surgeons, and other health care practitioners. However, some RNs choose to become advanced practice nurses, who often are considered primary health care practitioners and work independently or in collaboration with physicians. For example, clinical nurse specialists provide direct patient care and expert consultations in one of many of the nursing specialties listed above. Nurse anesthetists administer anesthesia, monitor patient’s vital signs during surgery, and provide post-anesthesia care. Nurse midwives provide primary care to women, including gynecological exams, family planning advice, prenatal care, assistance in labor and delivery, and neonatal care. Nurse practitioners provide basic preventive health care to patients, and increasingly serve as primary and specialty care providers in mainly medically underserved areas. The most common areas of specialty for nurse practitioners are family practice, adult practice, women’s health, pediatrics, acute care, and gerontology; however, there are many other specialties. In most States, advanced practice nurses can prescribe medications. |
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| Working Conditions | | Most RNs work in well-lighted, comfortable health care facilities. Home health and public health nurses travel to patients’ homes, schools, community centers, and other sites. RNs may spend considerable time walking and standing. Patients in hospitals and nursing care facilities require 24-hour care; consequently, nurses in these institutions may work nights, weekends, and holidays. RNs also may be on call—available to work on short notice. Nurses who work in office settings are more likely to work regular business hours. About 23 percent of RNs worked part time in 2006, and 7 percent held more than one job.
Nursing has its hazards, especially in hospitals, nursing care facilities, and clinics, where nurses may care for individuals with infectious diseases. RNs must observe rigid, standardized guidelines to guard against disease and other dangers, such as those posed by radiation, accidental needle sticks, chemicals used to sterilize instruments, and anesthetics. In addition, they are vulnerable to back injury when moving patients, shocks from electrical equipment, and hazards posed by compressed gases. RNs who work with critically ill patients also may suffer emotional strain from observing patient suffering and from close personal contact with patients’ families. |
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| Salary Range | | Median annual earnings of registered nurses were $57,280 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $47,710 and $69,850. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $40,250, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $83,440.
Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of registered nurses in 2006 were as follows: employment services ($64,260), general medical and surgical hospitals ($58,550), home health care services ($54,190), offices of physicians ($53,800) and nursing care facilities ($52,490). Many employers offer flexible work schedules, childcare, educational benefits, and bonuses. |
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