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Critical Care Nursing

A program that prepares registered nurses to provide specialized care to patients with life-threatening problems, including those in intensive care facilities and on life support. Includes instruction in adult, neonatal, and pediatric critical care; technical skills; patient monitoring and assessment; normal and abnormal readings; and troubleshooting. Examples: [Acute Care Nursing], [Acute Care Nurse Practitioner]

Types of Degrees Critical Care Nursing Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Critical Care Nursing may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Master’s Degree	548
Doctor’s Degree	48

What Critical Care Nursing Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Critical Care Nursing emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Critical Care Nursing graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Critical Care Nursing emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 6.0 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• Therapy and Counseling — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set built by a Critical Care Nursing program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to Critical Care Nursing careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Critical Care Nursing graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.8 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.6 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.6 / 7
Getting Information	4.6 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.6 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.4 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.3 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.3 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.3 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Critical Care Nursing professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
eClinicalWorks EHR software	Medical software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Medical condition coding software	Medical software	—
MEDITECH software	Medical software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Epic Systems	Medical software	—
Microsoft SharePoint	Document management software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Critical Care Nursing graduates include:

• Pediatric Oncology Nurse
• Psychiatric RN (Psychiatric Registered Nurse)
• Staff Nurse
• Nurse
• Registered Nurse (RN)
• Charge Nurse
• PACU RN (Post Anesthesia Care Unit Registered Nurse)
• Dialysis Registered Nurse (Dialysis RN)
• Industrial RN (Industrial Registered Nurse)
• Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC)
• Med-Surg RN (Medical Surgical Registered Nurse)
• Physical Therapy Nurse (PT Nurse)
• Med-Surg Telemetry RN (Medical Surgical Telemetry Registered Nurse)
• Recovery Room Nurse
• Trauma Nurse

What Can You Do With a Critical Care Nursing Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Critical Care Nursing commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Registered Nurses	10.2%	$105,741	$83,923–$127,558
Nurse Practitioners	3.3%	$147,651	$118,713–$176,588
Clinical Nurse Specialists	12.3%	$52,889	$43,554–$62,224
Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses	0.0%	$143,854	$116,411–$171,298
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary	5.7%	$69,718	$58,585–$80,852
Critical Care Nurses	14.4%	$65,103	$50,966–$79,241
Acute Care Nurses	4.1%	$56,247	$48,254–$64,241

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Critical Care Nursing graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Master’s degree	44.5%
Bachelor’s degree	24.3%
Doctoral degree	10.0%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	8.9%
Postsecondary certificate	7.8%
First professional degree	1.4%
Post-doctoral training	1.4%
Post-master’s certificate	1.3%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.3%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Critical Care Nursing?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 81.9% of Critical Care Nursing degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	488	81.9%
Men	108	18.1%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Critical Care Nursing graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	377	63.3%
Asian	40	6.7%
Hispanic or Latino	113	19.0%
Black or African American	36	6.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native	2	0.3%
Two or More Races	11	1.8%
Race Unknown	16	2.7%
International Students	1	0.2%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Critical Care Nursing Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of Critical Care Nursing graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Wages typically rise steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$83,453
4 years	$80,149
5 years	$90,156

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $90,156 — roughly 8% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Critical Care Nursing Programs

Online study are documented by IPEDS for Critical Care Nursing. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	9	5

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Critical Care Nursing Worth It?

Strictly by the federal earnings tracker, Critical Care Nursing graduates earn a median of $80,149 four years after completion — roughly 111% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	311,372
Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse	256,965
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	14,847
Nursing Practice	9,206
Nursing Administration	7,911
Nursing Science	4,245
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other	4,125
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2,457
Nurse Anesthetist	1,960
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	1,505
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	641
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	559

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.