What does an RN do in a clinical setting?

The duties of a clinical nurse vary according to their employer and their area of specialty.

Some of the most common tasks clinical nurses perform include:

• Assessing patients, ordering medical tests, and developing treatment plans

• Providing clinical expertise for complex cases and medical emergencies

• Teaching patients and their caregivers how to manage health conditions

• Mentoring and educating nurses within their place of employment

• Supervising other nurses and ancillary health care employees

• Researching their area of specialty and writing academic papers or creating presentations about findings

• Creating, revising, and implementing health care procedures, policies, and training programs within their place of employment and local government

• Collecting data from patients and medical records to improve health care services

• Designing assessment tools to evaluate care and education programs and suggesting improvements as required

• Allocating employer's resources, including nursing staff and funding