The nursing domain is quite vast that takes care of patients in various medical settings. It is one of the essential services without which treating patients is difficult. Two of the known personnel from this field are ICU nurses and emergency nurses. The former takes care of patients that needs constant care after surgery. Whereas, the latter helps doctors in providing immediate treatment and care to patients posing risks to their lives. While this can be said to be the basic difference between the two, there are a few other notable distinguishing points that differ them.
Although both nurses are primarily responsible for providing care to patients, their work duties vary greatly, which can be identified as follows:
Responsibilities
ICU Nurses
These nurses provide care to patients suffering from life-threatening medical issues. They are accountable for looking after patients who have been operated for invasive surgeries, received grave injuries in accidents, are facing organ failure, or are under life support. As such, they often have to deal with end-of-life cases where the patients experience sudden change in their conditions.
They have to note the subtle changes in the medical conditions that require doctor's intervention. Apart from observing patients' response and administering medicines, they are also permitted to use anesthesia or sleep-inducing injections for patients who go out of control due to anxiety, or get hyper active. They also ensure that ventilators and other life-support devices are in working condition. Furthermore, these nurses, on the basis of their observations, submit accurate reports about patients' conditions to the doctor as well as family members so that informed decisions about the next course of treatment can be taken.
ER Nurses
ER nurses have to always be on their toes since immediate care needs to be delivered to patients. Their responsibilities are vast and they have to handle a variety of cases right from accidents, to trauma and injuries.
Additional duties include recording vital signs of patients, administering IV medicines, handing out prescription pills, stitching wounds, and even performing intubation for critically ill patients. Further, monitoring patients to ensure effectiveness of medication, identifying side-effects as well as notifying the doctor if the condition worsens are also a part of their job. Apart from this, they maintain charts, read X-rays, keep the concerned patient's medical record updated, and even complete the discharge formalities once the treatment is completed.
Work Environment
Even if both the nurses are employed in a hospital or medical setting, their work environments are different. For instance, in the intensive care unit, patients are provided treatment on the basis of diagnosis. The medical practitioners have a basic idea of the illness after reviewing the test reports, can understand the primary problem, and even have a clue about the possible complications. On the other hand, in the emergency department, as the patient is usually admitted on the last minute, the assessment of what is wrong with him or her starts right from the scratch. For instance, a simple complaint of headache could either turn out to be a migraine or even hemorrhage. Furthermore, the patients in the ICU are usually critically ill and at a greater risk. On the other hand, the patients in the emergency room department are quite stable, relatively healthy and get better with the essential dose of treatment. Only a handful of them would require extensive care as others are capable of completing the daily activities themselves as compared to the ones in the ICU who require additional support for performing the smallest of tasks.
Certifications
Whether you choose to be an intensive care unit nurse, or emergency room nurse, you must first become a registered nurse. For this, you need to clear the NCLEX examination and get considerable experience. If you are looking to specialize in a particular nursing department, completing necessary certifications is a must. While this is not mandatory in most of the medical centers, obtaining them shows your commitment towards the profession as well as refines your skills.
To become a critical care unit (CCU) nurse, you need to have minimum 2 years of experience before you can sit for the certification exam conducted by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN). It provides a variety of sub specialty certifications that permits you to work with critically ill patients of all ages. On the other hand, to work as an emergency room nurse, students are first required to obtain Authorization to Test (ATT) from the state and even clear the Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) conducted by NCLEX-RN. Once you have a 2-year experience in the field, you can apply for the emergency nursing certification which is offered by Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN). It offers certifications for various roles including emergency room, flight nursing, pediatric, critical care ground transport (CCGT), etc.
Salary and Job Prospective
The annual package of ICU nurses is $71,825 according to available data, and their range is said to be between $64,722 and $78,055. On the other hand, according to the latest report of May 2018, the wage of an emergency room nurse is around $72,400 and the cap is said to be in the range of $64,657 to $80,420. As per the BLS reports, the opportunities for emergency room nurses are set to grow by 26%, whereas for the intensive care unit nurses, the growth is said to be at 24% in the upcoming years.
Nursing is an extremely rewarding profession as you get a chance to provide care to the ailing individuals. To work in this field, you often have to keep emotions in check, and maintain composure even in the most gruesome situations. In addition to this, you must be compassionate towards the people, have critical thinking skills, good written and verbal communication, and must have ability to pay attention to the minutest details. Once you have some experience, you can decide which department suits your interest, and then further shape your career accordingly.
Although both nurses are primarily responsible for providing care to patients, their work duties vary greatly, which can be identified as follows:
Responsibilities
ICU Nurses
These nurses provide care to patients suffering from life-threatening medical issues. They are accountable for looking after patients who have been operated for invasive surgeries, received grave injuries in accidents, are facing organ failure, or are under life support. As such, they often have to deal with end-of-life cases where the patients experience sudden change in their conditions.
They have to note the subtle changes in the medical conditions that require doctor's intervention. Apart from observing patients' response and administering medicines, they are also permitted to use anesthesia or sleep-inducing injections for patients who go out of control due to anxiety, or get hyper active. They also ensure that ventilators and other life-support devices are in working condition. Furthermore, these nurses, on the basis of their observations, submit accurate reports about patients' conditions to the doctor as well as family members so that informed decisions about the next course of treatment can be taken.
ER Nurses
ER nurses have to always be on their toes since immediate care needs to be delivered to patients. Their responsibilities are vast and they have to handle a variety of cases right from accidents, to trauma and injuries.
Additional duties include recording vital signs of patients, administering IV medicines, handing out prescription pills, stitching wounds, and even performing intubation for critically ill patients. Further, monitoring patients to ensure effectiveness of medication, identifying side-effects as well as notifying the doctor if the condition worsens are also a part of their job. Apart from this, they maintain charts, read X-rays, keep the concerned patient's medical record updated, and even complete the discharge formalities once the treatment is completed.
Work Environment
Even if both the nurses are employed in a hospital or medical setting, their work environments are different. For instance, in the intensive care unit, patients are provided treatment on the basis of diagnosis. The medical practitioners have a basic idea of the illness after reviewing the test reports, can understand the primary problem, and even have a clue about the possible complications. On the other hand, in the emergency department, as the patient is usually admitted on the last minute, the assessment of what is wrong with him or her starts right from the scratch. For instance, a simple complaint of headache could either turn out to be a migraine or even hemorrhage. Furthermore, the patients in the ICU are usually critically ill and at a greater risk. On the other hand, the patients in the emergency room department are quite stable, relatively healthy and get better with the essential dose of treatment. Only a handful of them would require extensive care as others are capable of completing the daily activities themselves as compared to the ones in the ICU who require additional support for performing the smallest of tasks.
Certifications
Whether you choose to be an intensive care unit nurse, or emergency room nurse, you must first become a registered nurse. For this, you need to clear the NCLEX examination and get considerable experience. If you are looking to specialize in a particular nursing department, completing necessary certifications is a must. While this is not mandatory in most of the medical centers, obtaining them shows your commitment towards the profession as well as refines your skills.
To become a critical care unit (CCU) nurse, you need to have minimum 2 years of experience before you can sit for the certification exam conducted by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN). It provides a variety of sub specialty certifications that permits you to work with critically ill patients of all ages. On the other hand, to work as an emergency room nurse, students are first required to obtain Authorization to Test (ATT) from the state and even clear the Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) conducted by NCLEX-RN. Once you have a 2-year experience in the field, you can apply for the emergency nursing certification which is offered by Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN). It offers certifications for various roles including emergency room, flight nursing, pediatric, critical care ground transport (CCGT), etc.
Salary and Job Prospective
The annual package of ICU nurses is $71,825 according to available data, and their range is said to be between $64,722 and $78,055. On the other hand, according to the latest report of May 2018, the wage of an emergency room nurse is around $72,400 and the cap is said to be in the range of $64,657 to $80,420. As per the BLS reports, the opportunities for emergency room nurses are set to grow by 26%, whereas for the intensive care unit nurses, the growth is said to be at 24% in the upcoming years.
Nursing is an extremely rewarding profession as you get a chance to provide care to the ailing individuals. To work in this field, you often have to keep emotions in check, and maintain composure even in the most gruesome situations. In addition to this, you must be compassionate towards the people, have critical thinking skills, good written and verbal communication, and must have ability to pay attention to the minutest details. Once you have some experience, you can decide which department suits your interest, and then further shape your career accordingly.
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