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Special duty nurse skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Angela Mund,

Angela Mund

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical special duty nurse skills. We ranked the top skills for special duty nurses based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 41.5% of special duty nurse resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a special duty nurse needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 special duty nurse skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how special duty nurses use patients:

Interacted closely with family members and patients in evaluating treatment plans and administered prescribed medications/treatments.
Educated patients on chemotherapy and related treatments including growth factors and radiation.

2. Acls

Here's how special duty nurses use acls:

Evaluate patients' vital signs and laboratory data to determine emergency intervention needs including initiation and implementation of ACLS code situations.
Provided compassionate, competent care within vascular-surgical step-down unit with telemetry and mechanical ventilation monitoring requiring ACLS certification.

3. MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive and painless procedure that uses strong magnetic fields, radio waves, and computers to create detailed and cross images of the body's inner parts. MRI scanner can detect anomalies inside the brain and spinal cord, find tumors or cysts, detect heart, liver, and other abdominal organ problems, and many more. MRIs are very useful in studying soft tissues and the nervous system. Aside from diagnosing diseases, doctors also use MRI to check how well you have recovered from a particular treatment.

Here's how special duty nurses use mri:

Assisted with all MRI's.

4. Home Health

Here's how special duty nurses use home health:

Spring View Home Health Care Student Nurse / Clinical Rotations Performed hands-on-experiences at various sites through Kaplan College.
Assessed patients referred for home health services for eligibility utilizing Medicare, Medicaid, and/or private insurance standards.

5. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how special duty nurses use cpr:

Responded to codes, administering CPR and oxygen, monitoring vitals and preparing medications in anticipation of physician orders.
Delivered patient/family education in CPR, crisis intervention and physiological warning signs; assisted with discharge planning and community resource coordination

6. IV

Here's how special duty nurses use iv:

Educate nursing staff on IV therapy, including maintenance and proper care of peripheral and central lines.
Staff RN: 10 bed, level IV emergency department of remote federal IHS hospital.

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7. Direct Patient Care

Here's how special duty nurses use direct patient care:

Participated in direct patient care-gave treatments to patients, prepared surgical instruments, assisted in operations and provided post -operational care.
Provided direct patient care in Medical-Surgical-Telemetry/intensive care unit (ICU), Mother/Baby, Emergency Department at this critical access hospital.

8. ICU

ICU means intensive care units. It also has a name known as the critical care unit or intensive therapy unit. The ICU handles patients experiencing acute diseases or severe injuries that need specialized treatment procedures by specific professionals.

Here's how special duty nurses use icu:

Administered care to ICU and med/surg clients.
Remained dedicated and patient-focused pediatric ICU nursing professional offering comprehensive quality child care experience within children hospital settings.

9. Medical Care

Here's how special duty nurses use medical care:

Acted as the medical care and specialized nurse for 20-bed unit for the patient's of anesthetics.
Provide medical care to the acute/mentally ill patient population through collaboration with ER physicians utilizing rapid thorough assessment and critical thinking.

10. Physical Assessments

Here's how special duty nurses use physical assessments:

Performed physical assessment of new Medicare admissions and current residents as indicated by change in condition or as required by regulation.
Perform a complete physical assessment and medical history as required on each detainee/inmate entering the correctional system.

11. Vital Signs

Vital signs are a set of values indicating different body systems' performance. They are measurements of the body's most basic functions. The four major vital signs used in medicine to assess a patient are body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure.

Here's how special duty nurses use vital signs:

Perform glucose monitoring, check oxygen levels, change colostomy bags, catheters and obtain vital signs.
Administered moderate sedation, per MD order, monitoring vital signs, pain and patient responsiveness.

12. CCU

Here's how special duty nurses use ccu:

Head Nurse, Medical-Diabetic Unit, Inservice Instructor, Relief Supervisor, Staff / Charge Nurse CCU
acquired from the CCU management.

13. Epic

Epic is a private healthcare company which developed and continues to provide a software intended for healthcare professionals and the organization and management of medical records. It is by far one of the largest in its field, with over 50% of patients having a medical record present in their system. Patients, as well as clinics and various medical professionals and facilities are all able to use this system to keep medical history and information safe and easy to reach, alter, and share with the necessary people.

Here's how special duty nurses use epic:

Led in the introduction of the electronic medical record (EPIC).

14. Patient Education

Here's how special duty nurses use patient education:

Provided one-on-one home infusion nursing care visits and patient education in accordance with the physician s plan of treatment.
Developed standardized patient education materials to instruct family members how to administer intravenous medications at home and safely monitor the patient.

15. Chemotherapy

Here's how special duty nurses use chemotherapy:

Scheduled Appointments for chemotherapy, labs, growth factors and physician appointments.
Traveled to Forest City, Arkansas with Dr. Minhas once a week to administer chemotherapy and make rounds with the Physician.

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What skills help Special Duty 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 special duty 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 special duty 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 soft skills should all special duty 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.

What hard/technical skills are most important for special duty nurses?

Diane Salvador Ph.D.

Executive Director and Professor, Elmhurst University

New nurses should be prepared to demonstrate proficiency in basic nursing care and procedures. It is important to realize that each hospital has its own policy and procedure to follow, so taking advantage of your nurse preceptor and orientation program will ensure you are familiar with these basic procedures.

What special duty nurse skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Michelle Hampton Ph.D.

Associate Professor, San Jose State University

I think there are always opportunities to work and gain experience once the nurse is licensed. They might need to be creative, flexible, and work where there's a need. That might be a specialty area they hadn't considered or a geographic area that requires some travel. I don't think a gap year is inevitable for all new graduates and there might be opportunities for them to find work, and they can always continue the learning process after you're employed, even if it's not your dream job. The more significant obstacle seems to be for students who are currently still in nursing programs.

Clinical sites weren't accepting students for several months, and now that they are again, they have significantly limited the number of students allowed at one time and the number of hours they can train. When a staff member or patient tests positive, students are pulled from the site for some time, and students are struggling to get the minimum number of hours required to continue progressing in the nursing program. Some schools have even suspended admission for new groups of students instead choosing to focus on getting the current students through the program.

Do you want to know more?

List of special duty nurse skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a special duty nurse resume and required skills for a special duty nurse to have include:

Patients
Acls
MRI
Home Health
CPR
IV
Direct Patient Care
ICU
Medical Care
Physical Assessments
Vital Signs
CCU

Epic
Patient Education
Chemotherapy
Quality Patient Care
EKG
Administer Medications
Patient Assessment
Physician Orders
Tube Feedings
Research Projects
Infection Control
Walkers

Catheter
G-Tube
Patient Data
Pain Management
Blood Products
Discharge Planning
ADL
Health Education
Patient Safety
Emotional Support
GYN
Blood Pressure

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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Special Duty Nurse Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

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