Discover the Benefits of PRN RN ICU Jobs with Nursa
Imagine working in the ICU—your work setting of choice—only on the days you want to work and in the schedule that fits your needs and preferences. Imagine you make a higher hourly rate with this work model than as a permanent employee. This work model is called PRN or per diem nursing. PRN nurses can pick up RN ICU jobs in hospitals near them, all while maintaining flexibility and work-life balance. Keep reading to learn more about PRN RN ICU jobs with Nursa.
What Is the Role of ICUs?
According to statistics from the Society of Critical Care Medicine, over 5 million individuals are admitted to ICUs in the US every year. The meaning of the acronym ICU is intensive care unit. These patients need intensive or invasive monitoring; support of airway, breathing, or circulation; comprehensive management of injury and/or illness; stabilization of acute or life-threatening medical conditions; and maximization of comfort for dying patients.
Although the ages and severity of illnesses of ICU patients have steadily increased, there was a 35 percent relative decrease in mortality for ICU admissions from 1988 to 2012.
What Is an RN ICU Job Description?
ICU nurses are typically licensed registered nurses (RNs) with entry-level nursing education, such as an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and additional specialized on-the-job training. ICU RN job descriptions usually prefer candidates with additional certifications, such as Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) credentials, that equip them to care for patients with life-threatening conditions.
New ICU RNs generally require more extended orientation periods with preceptors than nurses in other hospital areas and often additional classroom time to obtain the necessary skills to function in this highly specialized area.
What Are the Responsibilities of ICU RNs?
An article published in Critical Care Medicine, a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, suggests the “Fast Hug” mnemonic to represent ICU RNs' essential responsibilities with their patients. "Fast Hug" stands for the following ICU RN duties:
- Feeding
- Analgesia
- Sedation
- Thromboembolic prophylaxis
- Head-of-bed elevation
- [stress] Ulcer prevention
- Glucose control
What Makes a Good ICU RN?
A study published in Wiley: Journal of Advanced Nursing identifies the following essential qualities and skills of ICU nurses based on the input of patients, their family members, and ICU nurses themselves:
- Technical skills and biophysical knowledge: ICU nurses must perform medical and technical tasks reliably and accurately and understand operational principles to prevent and detect complications.
- Inter/intra-professional teamwork skills: Teamwork skills include exchanging information and observations and sharing responsibilities for the best interests of patients and their families.
- Communication skills (with patients and family members): Information must be honest, repeated, open, continuous, consistent, and effective. ICU nurses should use lay terms when possible and have a friendly, personal, and sensitive approach. They must also listen to patients, including non-verbal patients, and make sure both parties have understood each other.
- Constant and attentive bedside presence: ICU patients' complex physical and psychological conditions require constant and intense awareness from ICU RNs. ICU RNs must be sensitive and attentive to assess changes in a patient's condition. When an ICU RN is at the bedside, a patient's needs are visible, and RNs can give help quickly.
- Participative care: Patients and family members appreciate being part of the team, and interaction between staff and family members strengthens the patient's confidence. Dialogue, conversation, and information are fundamental conditions for this partnership.
- Confidence through daily care: ICU patients, family members, and RNs believe that ICU RNs should show their knowledge, skills, and abilities through daily care to create confidence, including vigorous, confident, and appropriate action accompanied by communication, touch, and support.
- Good atmosphere and supportive attitude: Patients and family members prefer human warmth, compassion, soft-handedness, and empathy over a strictly clinical manner. Patients value ICU RNs who create a good atmosphere, involve patients, encourage mutuality, use humor, chat, and share private experiences.
- Respectful relationships: Patients and ICU RNs value respectful relationships. ICU patients and family members value person-centered care, where patients are seen and treated as individuals with physical, emotional, and psychological needs and desires.
How Much Do RN ICU Jobs Pay?
RN ICU salary can vary significantly from one state to another and even from one hospital to another. That said, the following average RN wages provide a useful frame of reference:
- National average RN wage: $94,480 annually or $45.42 hourly
- Average RN wage in general medical and surgical hospitals: $96,830 annually or $46.55 hourly
- Average RN wage in specialty hospitals (except psychiatric and substance abuse): $98,220 annually or $47.22 hourly
The higher average wages in hospitals indicate that ICU RNs earn more than the average registered nurse in other healthcare settings. Furthermore, these average wages represent the income of employed RNs; RNs who work on a PRN basis earn significantly higher hourly rates.
What Are Tips for Landing an RN ICU Job?
It's always a good idea to keep your ICU RN resume up to date. If your resume needs a facelift, here's a guide to writing a stellar nursing resume.
Is the thought of writing or updating your resume making you anxious? The good news is that uploading a resume is optional with Nursa. You must upload your license for verification and any nursing credentials or other documentation required for a specific job, but you don't have to complete your professional profile in one sitting. You can add your experience, qualifications, and certifications at your own pace. Bear in mind that the more complete your profile is, the greater your chances of landing the ICU jobs you request.
Do ICU RNs Enjoy Their Jobs?
Registered nurses are crucial in the care of ICU patients. Over 63,449 ICU nurses are currently employed in the United States, but unfortunately, many are transitioning out of this setting.
An article published in ScienceDirect analyzed data from one state in the Southeastern United States to understand the frequency of transition out of critical care made by actively practicing, licensed RNs. The study found that over 75 percent of nurses left ICU nursing in the state, and 44 percent made clinical area transitions within five years. These nurses typically transitioned into the emergency room (ER), pre-operation, post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), and cardiac nursing.
A systematic review mentioned in this article found the following three main factors influencing nurses' intentions to leave the ICU:
- Quality of the work environment
- Nature of working relationships
- Traumatic/stressful workplace experiences
A 2022 study published in the National Library of Medicine states that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, ICU nurses presented higher levels of moral distress, burnout, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress than other healthcare workers. Moral distress or nurse burnout typically occurs when nurses experience powerlessness, low levels of control, inadequate support or resources, increased job stress, and high job demands.
How Can ICU RNs Avoid Burnout?
ICU nursing is stressful by nature. Patients in the ICU have complex health conditions, and nurses often witness patients' deaths and accompany family members during this time of loss. However, one way ICU RNs can maintain greater control over their work experience is by working when and where they wish by picking up PRN jobs. RNs can pick up PRN shifts on their days off, or they can work PRN full time. PRN jobs offer ICU RNs the possibility to have flexible schedules, a better work-life balance, and higher hourly pay.
How Can I Find PRN ICU RN Jobs near Me?
RNs can find PRN ICU jobs near them with Nursa. Nursa is a healthcare marketplace that connects hospitals and other facilities to qualified clinicians looking for per diem work. ICU RNs can browse Nursa for shifts in their local area, request as many as fit their interests, needs, and availability, and show up to work for their scheduled shifts.
Hospitals fill their staffing needs, and ICU RNs get high hourly pay for the shifts they choose to work. It's a win-win situation. Sign up with Nursa today to pick up ICU RN jobs near you.
Sources:
- Society of Critical Care Medicine: Critical Care Statistics
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (Registered Nurses)
