Registered Nurses

Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. Administer nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients. May advise patients on health maintenance and disease prevention or provide case management. Licensing or registration required. Includes advance practice nurses such as: nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse midwives, and certified registered nurse anesthetists. Advanced practice nursing is practiced by RNs who have specialized formal, post-basic education and who function in highly autonomous and specialized roles.

Job Task

• Prepare patients for, and assist with, examinations and treatments.
• Prepare rooms, sterile instruments, equipment and supplies, and ensure that stock of supplies is maintained.
• Provide health care, first aid, immunizations and assistance in convalescence and rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, and industry.
• Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
• Assess the needs of individuals, families and/or communities, including assessment of individuals' home and/or work environments to identify potential health or safety problems.
• Conduct specified laboratory tests.
• Consult with institutions or associations regarding issues and concerns relevant to the practice and profession of nursing.
• Direct and supervise less skilled nursing/health care personnel, or supervise a particular unit on one shift.
• Hand items to surgeons during operations.
• Instruct individuals, families and other groups on topics such as health education, disease prevention and childbirth, and develop health improvement programs.
• Order, interpret, and evaluate diagnostic tests to identify and assess patient's condition.
• Prescribe or recommend drugs, medical devices or other forms of treatment, such as physical therapy, inhalation therapy, or related therapeutic procedures.
• Consult and coordinate with health care team members to assess, plan, implement and evaluate patient care plans.
• Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
• Direct and coordinate infection control programs, advising and consulting with specified personnel about necessary precautions.
• Engage in research activities related to nursing.
• Inform physician of patient's condition during anesthesia.
• Perform administrative and managerial functions, such as taking responsibility for a unit's staff, budget, planning, and long-range goals.
• Perform physical examinations, make tentative diagnoses, and treat patients en route to hospitals or at disaster site triage centers.
• Modify patient treatment plans as indicated by patients' responses and conditions.
• Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity.
• Monitor, record and report symptoms and changes in patients' conditions.
• Observe nurses and visit patients to ensure that proper nursing care is provided.
• Provide or arrange for training/instruction of auxiliary personnel or students.
• Refer students or patients to specialized health resources or community agencies furnishing assistance.
• Work with individuals, groups, and families to plan and implement programs designed to improve the overall health of communities.
• Administer local, inhalation, intravenous, and other anesthetics.
• Contract independently to render nursing care, usually to one patient, in hospital or private home.
• Deliver infants and provide prenatal and postpartum care and treatment under obstetrician's supervision.

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