Healthcare Practitioners
Acute Care Nurses
Also called: Acute Care Nurse, Cardiac Interventional Care Nurse, Cardiovascular ICU Nurse (Cardiovascular Intense Care Unit Nurse), Cardiovascular Surgery Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (Cardiovascular Surgery ACNP)
US median pay
$97,550
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+5.6%
faster than average
Openings a year (US)
180,800
3,465,400 employed
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Preparation 4/5 · Considerable preparation
What this job is
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.
What they do day to day
- Discuss illnesses and treatments with patients and family members.
- Diagnose acute or chronic conditions that could result in rapid physiological deterioration or life-threatening instability.
- Perform emergency medical procedures, such as basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and other condition-stabilizing interventions.
- Assess urgent and emergent health conditions, using both physiologically and technologically derived data.
- Set up, operate, or monitor invasive equipment and devices, such as colostomy or tracheotomy equipment, mechanical ventilators, catheters, gastrointestinal tubes, and central lines.
- Document data related to patients' care, including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes.
- Administer blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions.
- Interpret information obtained from electrocardiograms (EKGs) or radiographs (x-rays).
- Perform administrative duties that facilitate admission, transfer, or discharge of patients.
- Obtain specimens or samples for laboratory work.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Service Orientation4.1/5
- Social Perceptiveness4.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Making4.0/5
- Coordination4.0/5
- Complex Problem Solving4.0/5
- Time Management3.5/5
- Instructing3.5/5
- Systems Evaluation3.1/5
Knowledge
- Medicine and Dentistry4.8/5
- Customer and Personal Service4.3/5
- Education and Training4.3/5
- English Language4.0/5
- Psychology3.8/5
- Therapy and Counseling3.6/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 4 of 5 — Considerable preparation. Usually a bachelor's degree and several years of related experience.
Typical entry education (BLS): Bachelor's degree.
Highest education of people in this job:
- Bachelor's degree57%
- Associate's degree19%
Who this job suits
Mostly Social
Helping, teaching and caring for people
Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.