Trauma Nurse vs ER Nurse

A trauma nurse is a medical professional that gives care to critically wounded or ill patients in the trauma center of a hospital, while an ER nurse gives care to patients that are admitted to the emergency room.

How To Become A Trauma Nurse: What It Is and Career Path

What is a trauma nurse and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.,

Kim Raines

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a trauma nurse. For example, did you know that they make an average of $38.91 an hour? That's $80,928 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 195,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a trauma nurse?

Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.

Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University

One of the suggestions for new graduates is the importance of self-care. We have long known of the demanding nature of the nursing practice. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the nursing role's critical importance and the unique contributions made by nursing professionals. As the healthcare environment is extremely complex and challenging, nurses must remember to advocate for themselves and prioritize self-care.

ScoreTrauma NurseUS Average

Salary

6.3

Avg. Salary $80,928

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 8.86%

Black or African American 11.34%

Hispanic or Latino 9.72%

Unknown 4.32%

White 65.31%

Gender

female 78.55%

male 21.45%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a trauma nurse

Explore trauma nurse education requirements

Most common trauma nurse degrees

Bachelor's

48.9 %

Associate

33.4 %

Master's

10.9 %

Start to develop specific trauma nurse skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	25.00%
BLS	14.37%
Acls	9.22%
Critical Care	3.23%
ICU	3.03%

Complete relevant trauma nurse training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New trauma nurses learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a trauma nurse based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real trauma nurse resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed trauma nurse usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed trauma nurse in most of states. 43 states require trauma nurses to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
California	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Colorado	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse

Research trauma nurse duties and responsibilities

Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
PAL's instructor, TNCC, ENPC and ACLS obtain.
Provide both BLS and ACLS emergency care to sick and injure
Respond to various traumas and emergency situations and triage numerous phone calls.

Prepare your trauma nurse resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your trauma nurse resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a trauma nurse resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable trauma nurse resume templates

Build a professional trauma nurse resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your trauma nurse resume.