Critical care nursing is the field of nursing with a focus on the utmost care of critically ill or unstable patients following extensive injury, surgery, or life-threatening diseases. Critical care nurses can be found working in a wide variety of environments and specialties, such as general intensive care units, medical intensive care units, surgical intensive care units, trauma intensive care units, coronary care units, cardiothoracic intensive care units, burns unit, pediatrics, and some trauma center emergency departments. These specialists generally take care of critically ill patients who require mechanical ventilation by way of endotracheal intubation and/or titratable vasoactive intravenous medications.

If you’ve ever been seriously ill or visited someone in the hospital who was, you’ve likely encountered a critical care nurse. Often called ICU nurses because of the unit they commonly work in, critical care nurses are highly trained to understand and provide care for people of all ages who are recovering from life-threatening illnesses or injuries.