According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Registered Nursing is one of the top 10 occupations with the largest job growth. Registered Nurses travel jobs and assignments are available in every state and the specialty list continues to grow as well. Room for continuous growth and expanding of your career in the Nursing and healthcare field is a great asset for this type of work as well. Expand your career and your experience and explore our beautiful country at the same time!

Nursing care in the MICU is focused on the assessment, diagnosis, evaluation, treatment and monitoring of the critically ill patient. Critical thinking is important in the ongoing assessment of the ICU patient. The MICU RN utilizes a multi-disciplinary plan of care to delivery consistent goal directed care. Patients in MICU require care 24/7 meaning shifts would be night and day, weekends and holidays. Comprehensive care of patients and their family members is provided through nursing, medications, social work services, pastoral care if requested, case management, food and nutritional services, rehab services, cardiopulmonary services and any other care indicated by the patient’s health status and needs identified.

MICU Registered Nurses specialize in providing care in medical intensive care units of hospitals and are always in high demand. The percentage of critically ill patients requiring expert care continues to rise as health care advances. RNs also work in specialized units and sometimes provide care to people of all ages, though most provide care to either children or adults. RN MICU nurses must be proficient in a wide variety of high-level nursing skills and need to be experts in evaluating and administering care, while recognizing complications. A successful MICU RN will excel at interpersonal communication, leadership, strategic planning, critical thinking and decision-making. Intensive Care Nursing is a complex and challenging specialty and these nurses must use their advanced skills to care for critically ill and high risk patients.

Common diagnoses for patients in Medical Intensive Care Units may include liver failure, GI bleed, sepsis, respiratory failure, multi-system failure, infectious diseases, diabetic ketoacidois, respiratory arrest, cancer and post cardiac. Most patients are in this unit between 3-4 days.

Some duties for the RN MICU may include:

Suctioning

Adjusting ventilator/IABP

Wound care/repositioning

Organizing and transporting for additional testing

Performing and interpreting ECG

Education and fielding questions from patient and/or family members

A day in the life of an ICU RN may consist of:

Take a report and check all infusions on each patient.

Complete assessment of the patient and documentation

Check all equipment on each patient (ventilator setting, chest/wound drains, IDC, IABP/VAD, nitric oxide tank, pressure transducers) and document accordingly..

Check the medications chart and make sure all medications are administered timely.

Attend rounds and make any adjustments

Reassess the patient any time any changes are noted.

Maintain the confidentiality of matters regarding patients and coworkers.

Comply with regulations, rules and procedures in order to maintain a safe and clean environment. Adhere strictly to infection control protocols to protect patients and coworkers.