What do nurses do? Nurses fulfill many roles in healthcare. They serve as advocates, educators, researchers, care coordinators, and care providers. Specific daily tasks often depend on nursing specialty. Some nursing specialties include oncology, pediatrics, women’s health, HIV, cardiac care, dermatology, and public health.
Nursing is both a science and an art, requiring strict adherence to evidence-based practices while also exercising principles of compassion and empathy. Nurses are charged with protecting and promoting patients’ well-being, taking a holistic approach to patient care. What do nurses do on a day-to-day basis? Their responsibilities and tasks are often dependent on their chosen nursing specialty. Regardless of the many differences between the types of nurses, however, all nurses share the goal of delivering quality care.
What is a nurse’s career pathway like? Individuals can come to this career field from different backgrounds. In fact, if you have a prior non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 54 non-nursing college credits, you won’t have to spend four more full years in school. You may qualify to apply for Concordia University, St. Paul’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program. Our Accelerated BSN program can allow you to gain immersive experience, providing a first-hand look at what nurses do.
Curious about how nursing school works? Discover what to expect in an ABSN program.
As you’re considering the question “What does a nurse do?” look at what a nurse is, what the typical daily responsibilities are, and what the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Model is. You should also consider the different nursing specialties, work settings, and career pathways.
What Is a Nurse?
A nurse is a healthcare provider who works collaboratively with other providers to deliver patient care. They help patients recover from acute conditions, such as appendicitis, and manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes and eczema. Nurses can wear many hats, including the following:
- Care coordinator
- Care provider
- Case manager
- Patient advocate
- Patient educator
- Researcher
What Does a Nurse Do?
The responsibilities of any given nurse will often depend, at least in part, on their specialty area. A nurse who specializes in working with pediatric patients, for example, will regularly administer vaccinations, while a nurse who specializes in end-of-life care generally does not.
Some of the basic responsibilities of nurses include:
- Administering medications and other treatments
- Cleaning and bandaging wounds
- Delivering patient and family caregiver education
- Developing patient care plans
- Operating and monitoring medical equipment
- Performing diagnostic tests and interpreting results
- Performing patient assessments, taking patients’ medical histories, and questioning patients about their symptoms
- Placing IV lines, nasogastric tubes, and catheters
- Recording patient information and their own observations
What Is the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Model?
While nurses work in different specialty areas, they are evaluated by how well they follow the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Model. This is a fundamental approach to delivering patient care as defined by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. It consists of the following six skills:
- Recognize cues: Nurses observe the data around them in the form of patient interactions, charts and other data, like noticing nonverbal signs of pain or abnormal vital signs.
- Analyze cues: Once data is collected, nurses can organize it and determine what is most relevant. By analyzing these cues, nurses can identify potential issues that might be emerging.
- Prioritize hypotheses: Prioritizing hypotheses is an important nursing skill, as it helps nurses determine which are the most or least likely and effectively address the most serious symptoms.
- Generate solutions: Nurses and physicians collaborate when assessing patients, and a key nursing skill is the ability to come to solutions that are evidence-based and in accordance with nursing best practices.
- Take action: Collaborating with the rest of the patient care team to carry out interventions, nurses must be able to act quickly and effectively in response to a change in a patient’s condition.
- Evaluate outcomes: Once interventions have been carried out, nurses reflect on whether the actions improved the patient’s condition and continue to evaluate and record.
What Are the Types of Nurses?
The answer to the question “What does a nurse do?” is dependent in part on the type of nurse they are. The main types of nurses are as follows:
- Licensed practical nurse (LPN): Also known as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN), an LPN works under the supervision of a registered nurse (RN). They can provide basic medical care to patients, such as checking vital signs. LPNs also focus on assisting patients with the activities of daily living like medication administration, specific interventions, feeding, bathing, and dressing.
- Registered nurse: An RN practices with greater autonomy and a broader scope of practice than LPNs regarding patient assessment and care plan development. They can exercise clinical judgment and implement patient care plans by following the NCSBN clinical judgment measurement model.
- Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN): These types of nurses have even greater autonomy than RNs. They serve as leaders in the field, mentoring fellow nurses and often advocating for improvements to nursing practice and organizational processes. There are four main types of APRNs:
- Certified nurse midwife (CNM)
- Certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA)
- Clinical nurse specialist (CNS)
- Nurse practitioner (NP)
What Are the Types of Nursing Specialties?
One advantage of choosing a nursing career is the ability to pick a nursing specialty that best suits your interests. There is a vast spectrum of nursing specialties to choose from, such as those that focus on a particular patient population:
- Adult-gerontology
- Critical care
- Pediatrics
- Women’s health
You could also choose a specialty based on the work setting, such as:
- Camp nurse
- Correctional nurse
- Flight nurse
- Home health nurse
- Military nurse
- School nurse
Alternatively, pick a nursing specialty based on the area of medicine or medical condition, such as the following:
- Cardiac nurse
- HIV nurse
- Oncology nurse
- Orthopedics nurse
There are also plenty of specialties that take nurses away from the bedside. Some of them include:
- Legal nurse consultant
- Nurse case manager
- Public health nurse
A nursing career is full of options.
Where Can Nurses Work?
Another advantage of working in the nursing field is being able to choose from a wide range of different work settings. There are plenty of alternatives to hospital jobs. Some of the possible work settings include:
- Behavioral health treatment facilities
- Birthing centers
- Family physician offices
- Government agencies
- Insurance companies
- Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
- Outpatient surgery centers
- Schools
- Specialist offices
How to Become a Nurse
Some people enroll in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program right after high school. These traditional degree programs take four years of full-time study to complete. There is another option, however.
At CSP Global, we provide a pathway to nursing for nontraditional students who are switching careers. Here, you can leverage your prior non-nursing education toward earning a BSN sooner. Our ABSN program can allow you to graduate in as few as 16 months following the completion of any needed prerequisites.
The pathway to becoming a nurse with our ABSN program includes the following steps:
- Contact an admissions advisor at CSP Global to review your eligibility and put together a plan for applying.
- Complete any needed prerequisite courses.
- Complete the ATI Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) with a minimum score of 65%.
- Submit your application, along with official transcripts, and fulfill other admission requirements.
- Complete the ABSN program and earn a BSN.
- Pass the NCLEX-RN licensure exam.
- Obtain a state-issued RN license.
Should you become a nurse? Consider the top factors that let you know if nursing is right for you.
Work Toward a Nursing Career You’ll Love
You can begin pursuing an exciting career in nursing at CSP Global. Our ABSN program can allow you to graduate with a quality BSN in as few as 16 months. We offer three start dates each year and rolling admissions, so you can get started sooner. Here, you’ll benefit from a hybrid approach to learning, with immersive clinical learning experiences and a comprehensive nursing curriculum infused with Christian principles.
Contact an admissions advisor today to find out if you could be eligible to apply to Concordia University, St. Paul’s ABSN program in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon.