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Registered Nurse Job Description

Kundan Pandey
Compassion, excellent communication, and patient-care skills form the core of a registered nurse's job. Here is some more information about their role.
Nursing is one of the oldest and most traditional professions in the world. Since Florence Nightingale made a revolutionary contribution in making it a full-fledged and disciplined profession, it has become a popular medical job.
Consequently, career opportunities in this profession are immense. As professionalism in nursing has gained momentum, those with certifications are given preference in the hiring process. With increasing challenges in hospital management and patient care, their range of duties have also increased tremendously.
Today, one can specialize in a particular area, as specialized skills are needed in every department such as emergency rooms, ICUs and childcare. Let's look at the duties for the major specialties of a registered nurse.

Intensive Care

The intensive care unit (ICU) is a special ward allotted to critical patients suffering due to some disease or accident. Here, patients require extra care and close monitoring due to precarious health. Nurses look after the proper functioning of the life-support equipment, feeding tubes, ventilators, and other systems installed to look after the patients.
They administer intravenous injections, medications, and insert catheters as per need. Further, they can direct junior nurses to assist them in patient care. According to the results by PayScale in 2018, Registered Nurses may fetch salaries as high as around USD 89,000 per year.

Pediatrics

Pediatric nurses treat babies, children, and adolescents. This field has gained immense popularity in recent years.
Their duties range from administering drugs and injections to counseling a child, and emotionally supporting the tensed parents. Their salary range is between USD 36,000 to USD 83,000 per year.

Neonatology

Neonatal nurses treat newborns with problems related to respiration and low weight at birth. They have to feed the baby with gavage tubes, at times when they are unable to eat or feed on the mother's milk.
Monitoring the health of the baby and recording the information for future reference are important aspects of their job. Their salary may range from USD 40,000 to USD 100,000 per year.
Besides an associate or a bachelor's degree in nursing, students must crack a national-level exam and get some work experience before applying for a license. Some employers look at a minimum of a bachelor's degree.
The earning potential for registered nurses is very good and seeing the growth in this field, this profession holds promise for much better salaries and career development in the future.

 

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