ICU Nurse job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

16

O*NET task statements

Preparation

Job Zone 4 of 5

considerable preparation

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

BLS 2025–35 · broader occupation

Median pay

$97,550

BLS May 2025 · broader occupation

Data Government data groups this job as Critical Care Nurses (O*NET-SOC 29-1141.03; BLS series “Registered Nurses”). O*NET figures on this page are for that occupation; BLS pay and projections are for the broader BLS occupation, labelled where shown.

1. Evaluate patients' vital signs or laboratory data to determine emergency intervention needs. importance 5.0 of 5
2. Monitor patients for changes in status and indications of conditions such as sepsis or shock and institute appropriate interventions. importance 4.8 of 5
3. Administer medications intravenously, by injection, orally, through gastric tubes, or by other methods. importance 4.8 of 5
4. Monitor patients' fluid intake and output to detect emerging problems, such as fluid and electrolyte imbalances. importance 4.8 of 5
5. Prioritize nursing care for assigned critically ill patients, based on assessment data or identified needs. importance 4.7 of 5
6. Compile and analyze data obtained from monitoring or diagnostic tests. importance 4.7 of 5
7. Conduct pulmonary assessments to identify abnormal respiratory patterns or breathing sounds that indicate problems. importance 4.7 of 5
8. Assess patients' pain levels or sedation requirements. importance 4.6 of 5
9. Collaborate with other health care professionals to develop and revise treatment plans, based on identified needs and assessment data. importance 4.6 of 5
10. Document patients' medical histories and assessment findings. importance 4.5 of 5
11. Collect specimens for laboratory tests. importance 4.5 of 5
12. Set up and monitor medical equipment and devices such as cardiac monitors, mechanical ventilators and alarms, oxygen delivery devices, transducers, or pressure lines. importance 4.4 of 5
13. Administer blood and blood products, monitoring patients for signs and symptoms related to transfusion reactions. importance 4.4 of 5
14. Advocate for patients' and families' needs, or provide emotional support for patients and their families. importance 4.4 of 5
15. Assess family adaptation levels and coping skills to determine whether intervention is needed. importance 4.2 of 5
16. Perform approved therapeutic or diagnostic procedures, based upon patients' clinical status. importance 4.2 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Assisting and Caring for Others, Getting Information, Making Decisions and Solving Problems, Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events and Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge.

Knowledge areas: Medicine and Dentistry, Customer and Personal Service, Psychology, English Language and Biology.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Epic Systems, MEDITECH software, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft SharePoint, Allscripts Professional EHR. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for the broader occupation.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists no typical on-the-job training once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 4 of 5 (considerable preparation). A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board and see how to become an ICU nurse.

The most common answer among O*NET's occupation experts for this occupation is a bachelor's degree (50%).

Job title: ICU Nurse
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring an ICU Nurse to provide specialized nursing care for patients in critical or coronary care units.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Evaluate patients' vital signs or laboratory data to determine emergency intervention needs.
- Monitor patients for changes in status and indications of conditions such as sepsis or shock and institute appropriate interventions.
- Administer medications intravenously, by injection, orally, through gastric tubes, or by other methods.
- Monitor patients' fluid intake and output to detect emerging problems, such as fluid and electrolyte imbalances.
- Prioritize nursing care for assigned critically ill patients, based on assessment data or identified needs.
- Compile and analyze data obtained from monitoring or diagnostic tests.
- Conduct pulmonary assessments to identify abnormal respiratory patterns or breathing sounds that indicate problems.
- Assess patients' pain levels or sedation requirements.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in monitoring, social perceptiveness and service orientation
- Working knowledge of Medicine and Dentistry and Customer and Personal Service
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Epic Systems or MEDITECH software]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

For the broader BLS occupation Registered Nurses, the median annual wage was $97,550 in May 2025. The broader occupation's median hourly wage was $46.90.

BLS counts the O*NET occupation Critical Care Nurses within Registered Nurses and publishes no separate wage for it, so the figure is for that broader occupation.

BLS projects employment in the broader occupation Registered nurses to grow 5.6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 180,800 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

See the full ICU nurse salary breakdown by percentile, state and metro.

• Read a real ICU nurse posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Evaluate patients' vital signs or laboratory data to determine…”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only ICU nurse work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (monitoring and social perceptiveness); ICU nurse interview questions turns them into practice questions.