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Intensive care unit nurse skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Angela Mund,

Angela Mund

Intensive care unit nurse example skills

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical intensive care unit nurse skills. We ranked the top skills for intensive care unit nurses based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 21.7% of intensive care unit nurse resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an intensive care unit nurse needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 intensive care unit nurse skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use patients:

Counseled and educated patients and their families regarding DSM-IV diagnoses, psychotropic medications, therapeutic alternatives and relapse prevention.
Provide exceptional nursing care to gunshot victims, stabbings, motor vehicle accident and other critically ill/surgical/medical patients.

2. BLS

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use bls:

Obtained and maintained ACLS, BLS, and PALS certifications through the American Heart Association.
Incorporated ACLS and BLS algorithms on a frequent basis.

3. Acls

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use acls:

Provide assessment and intervention of emergency situations, including cardiac and respiratory arrest following ACLS and PALS protocols.
Managed patients who suffered respiratory/cardiac arrest per ACLS protocol.

4. Diagnostic Tests

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use diagnostic tests:

Administered medications, assess IV sites and assists health care providers in administering treatment and diagnostic tests to patients.
Ordered and performed diagnostic tests.

5. Catheter

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use catheter:

Employed assessment skills to care for catheter and IV insertion and management.
Obtained readings from pulmonary catheter (wedged and non-wedged).

6. Compassion

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use compassion:

Provided care and compassion to patients and their families.
Resolve conflict with compassion and fairness.

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7. Home Health

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use home health:

Facilitated the transferring of patient care to other units, facilities, or home health agencies.
Experience in LTC Nursing homes, Home Health Care and Hospice.

8. CCU

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use ccu:

Worked as a CCU Charge Nurse as needed, responsible for all the nurses and patients in a 23 bed unit.
Performed a comprehensive range of clinical functions in the CCU intensive care unit.

9. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use patient care:

Organized and facilitated meetings to ensure Ventilated patient care policies are strictly followed and performed daily performance improvement audits.
Assessed planned, implemented and evaluated patient care and performed patient education in accordance to unit policy.

10. Telemetry

A telemetry is a process of automatically monitoring and recording vital conditions like the blood pressure, heart rhythm, and oxygen saturation of a patient, particularly those in the Intensive Care Unit or ICU critical condition. It is where the information gathered to report as a basis for a doctor's findings.

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use telemetry:

Supervised operations of hospital wide telemetry monitoring unit and technicians.
Interpreted and monitored patients on telemetry.

11. NICU

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use nicu:

Deployed with helicopter team to transport critically ill neonates to NICU from surrounding communities in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia.
Worked under the supervision of preceptor for the direct care of three complex patients per shift in the NICU.

12. Life Support

Life support is a machine or equipment often used by the hospital for patients with severe conditions, such as those in the Intensive Care Unit or ICU. It is developed to provide short-term support to help patients have enough time to treat or recover from a severe health concern. It is typically a mechanical ventilation tool for patients who has difficulty in breathing. The life support can last for about a month or so, but if the patient is unconscious, it might be lower.

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use life support:

Performed professional assessments pertaining to life support & long-term vent dependencies
Administered advanced cardiovascular life support measures within a team environment.

13. Quality Care

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use quality care:

Managed time effectively to provide quality care for two high-acuity patients concurrently.
Provided quality care at a professional level by strong leadership skills and being knowledgeable of the clinical medical regimen.

14. Rehabilitation

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use rehabilitation:

Assisted physicians during treatments and procedures -Coordinate services for discharge of patients to ventilator and rehabilitation facilities -EKG Class
Cared for patients with myocardial infarctions along with cardiac rehabilitation

15. Picu

Here's how intensive care unit nurses use picu:

Directed all efforts of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit as the PICU charge nurse.
Maintained adequate staffing for PICU needs for both day and night shift.

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What skills help Intensive Care Unit Nurses find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What type of skills will young intensive care unit nurses need?

Angela Mund

Vice President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

To meet the needs of our current volatile and complex healthcare landscape, all healthcare providers will need to understand the business of healthcare, in addition to providing expert patient care. Starting in 2025, all graduates from nurse anesthesia programs will be awarded a doctoral degree, a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP), or a doctorate in nurse anesthesia practice (DNAP). These degree programs include additional anesthesia experience as well as an understanding of effective leadership, healthcare economics and reimbursement, the use of big data for improving patient outcomes, and evidence-based practice.

What skills stand out on intensive care unit nurse resumes?

Angela Mund

Vice President, American Association of Nurse Anesthetists

To become a CRNA, the applicant must first be a registered nurse and graduate of a baccalaureate nursing program. A minimum of one year of clinical experience in an intensive care unit (ICU) is required. The application process is rigorous, and many nurse anesthesia programs are seeing higher than typical applicant numbers, perhaps due to the impact of COVID-19 on the ICU nurse workforce.

The most competitive applicants will have an overall GPA >3.5. Basic science courses are heavily weighted with respect to both course grade and type of course. A competitive resumé should include evidence of clinical expertise, leadership, volunteerism, and scholarly work. In addition, all registered nurse applicants should have shadowed a CRNA to learn about the profession prior to application. The interview process may include assessments of critical thinking, decision-making, and emotional intelligence.

What hard/technical skills are most important for intensive care unit nurses?

Beth Latimer

Clinical Associate Professor, New York University

Technical skills are important to master. However, this happens more so "on the job" rather than at graduation. Only practice makes perfect when mastering a skill, and having daily interactions with patients will develop those hard technical skills necessary for success.

What intensive care unit nurse skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Michelle Collins Ph.D., CNM, RNC-EFM, FACNM, FAAN, FNAP

Dean and Professor, Loyola University New Orleans

As mentioned in my first response, flexibility is an absolute must have quality to make it in the nursing profession. Your work day will hardly ever go as expected; being able to pivot and change course at a moment's notice, and not allow change to totally unnerve you is a great quality to have. Another is the ability to multitask well. This may take some practice but it's a necessity for a nurse to be able to capably juggle numerous tasks at one time. Technical expertise will also become increasingly important given the nurse's use of electronic medical records. Lastly, resilience is of utmost importance for a nurse to have. New nurses are leaving the field at an alarming rate much earlier in their career than in the past. Nursing required resilience to survive. I can promise anyone going into nursing that it is indeed the most difficult job you could ever have - and also the most rewarding.

What soft skills should all intensive care unit nurses possess?

Diane Salvador Ph.D.

Executive Director and Professor, Elmhurst University

The most important skill for new nursing graduates is critical thinking. You will be put into varying roles and assume different responsibilities. You must critically think and evaluate situations you find yourself in and make wise nursing decisions. Another important skill that we emphasize in education is communication - this is key to safe, quality care.

Do you want to know more?

List of intensive care unit nurse skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an intensive care unit nurse resume and required skills for an intensive care unit nurse to have include:

Patients
BLS
Acls
Diagnostic Tests
Catheter
Compassion
Home Health
CCU
Patient Care
Telemetry
NICU
Life Support
Quality Care
Rehabilitation
Picu
Vital Signs
EKG

IV
Discharge Planning
Physician Orders
Advanced Life Support
Direct Patient Care
Patient Safety
Compassionate Care
CPR
MICU
Patient Assessment
ICP
Family Education
Ventilator Management
CRRT
Ventilation
Arrhythmia
SICU

Comprehensive Care
Resuscitation
COPD
Patient Education
Emergency Situations
GI
Mechanical Ventilation
Arterial Lines
Primary Care
CVP
Titration
PICC
Administer Medications
Medical Equipment
IABP

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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Intensive Care Unit Nurse Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

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