Professional Nursing

Alternative Job Titles for Registered Nurses

• Certified Operating Room Nurse (CNOR)
• Charge Nurse
• Emergency Department RN (Emergency Department Registered Nurse)
• Oncology RN (Oncology Registered Nurse)
• Operating Room Registered Nurse (OR RN)
• Psychiatric RN (Psychiatric Registered Nurse)
• Relief Charge Nurse
• School Nurse
• Staff Nurse
• Staff RN (Staff Registered Nurse)

Job Tasks and Activities for Registered Nurses

• Administer anesthetics or sedatives to control pain.
• Administer local, inhalation, intravenous, or other anesthetics.
• Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
• Administer non-intravenous medications.
• Advise communities or institutions regarding health or safety issues.
• Advise medical personnel regarding healthcare issues.
• Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment.
• Assess patient work, living, or social environments.
• Assess the needs of individuals, families, or communities, including assessment of individuals' home or work environments, to identify potential health or safety problems.
• Assist healthcare practitioners during examinations or treatments.
• Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
• Communicate health and wellness information to the public.
• Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
• Conduct specified laboratory tests.
• Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans.
• Consult with institutions or associations regarding issues or concerns relevant to the practice and profession of nursing.
• Design public or employee health programs.
• Diagnose medical conditions.
• Direct healthcare delivery programs.
• Direct or coordinate infection control programs, advising or consulting with specified personnel about necessary precautions.
• Direct or supervise less-skilled nursing or healthcare personnel or supervise a particular unit.
• Engage in research activities related to nursing.
• Evaluate patient outcomes to determine effectiveness of treatments.
• Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
• Immunize patients.
• Inform medical professionals regarding patient conditions and care.
• Inform physician of patient's condition during anesthesia.
• Instruct individuals, families, or other groups on topics such as health education, disease prevention, or childbirth and develop health improvement programs.
• Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
• Maintain inventory of medical supplies or equipment.
• Maintain medical facility records.
• Manage healthcare operations.
• Modify patient treatment plans as indicated by patients' responses and conditions.
• Monitor patient conditions during treatments, procedures, or activities.
• Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
• Order medical diagnostic or clinical tests.
• Order, interpret, and evaluate diagnostic tests to identify and assess patient's condition.
• Perform administrative or managerial functions, such as taking responsibility for a unit's staff, budget, planning, or long-range goals.
• Perform physical examinations, make tentative diagnoses, and treat patients en route to hospitals or at disaster site triage centers.
• Prepare medical supplies or equipment for use.
• Prepare patients for and assist with examinations or treatments.
• Prepare patients physically for medical procedures.
• Prepare rooms, sterile instruments, equipment, or supplies and ensure that stock of supplies is maintained.
• Prescribe assistive medical devices or related treatments.
• Prescribe medications.
• Prescribe or recommend drugs, medical devices, or other forms of treatment, such as physical therapy, inhalation therapy, or related therapeutic procedures.
• Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.
• Provide or arrange for training or instruction of auxiliary personnel or students.
• Record patient medical histories.
• Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
• Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.
• Refer students or patients to specialized health resources or community agencies furnishing assistance.
• Supervise patient care personnel.
• Test biological specimens to gather information about patient conditions.
• Train caregivers or other non-medical personnel.
• Treat acute illnesses, infections, or injuries.
• Treat medical emergencies.
• Work with individuals, groups, or families to plan or implement programs designed to improve the overall health of communities.

Interests for Registered Nurses

• Social
  Helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others.
• Investigative
  Studying and researching scientific subjects and human behavior.
• Conventional
  Following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting.

Skills for Registered Nurses

In order of importance

• Social Perceptiveness
  Understanding people's reactions.
  Importance: 78/100
• Coordination
  Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
  Importance: 75/100
• Service Orientation
  Looking for ways to help people.
  Importance: 75/100
• Speaking
  Talking to others.
  Importance: 75/100
• Critical Thinking
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
  Importance: 75/100
• Active Listening
  Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
  Importance: 75/100
• Judgment and Decision Making
  Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
  Importance: 72/100
• Reading Comprehension
  Reading work-related information.
  Importance: 72/100
• Monitoring
  Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
  Importance: 69/100
• Writing
  Writing things for co-workers or customers.
  Importance: 69/100
• Active Learning
  Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
  Importance: 63/100
• Complex Problem Solving
  Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
  Importance: 63/100
• Learning Strategies
  Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
  Importance: 56/100
• Instructing
  Teaching people how to do something.
  Importance: 56/100
• Time Management
  Managing your time and the time of other people.
  Importance: 53/100
• Operations Monitoring
  Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
  Importance: 50/100
• Systems Analysis
  Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
  Importance: 50/100
• Systems Evaluation
  Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
  Importance: 50/100
• Science
  Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
  Importance: 47/100
• Mathematics
  Using math to solve problems.
  Importance: 47/100
• Quality Control Analysis
  Testing how well a product or service works.
  Importance: 47/100
• Persuasion
  Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
  Importance: 47/100
• Negotiation
  Bringing people together to solve differences.
  Importance: 44/100
• Management of Personnel Resources
  Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
  Importance: 41/100
• Operation and Control
  Using equipment or systems.
  Importance: 31/100
• Operations Analysis
  Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
  Importance: 25/100
• Equipment Selection
  Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
  Importance: 22/100
• Management of Material Resources
  Managing equipment and materials.
  Importance: 22/100
• Technology Design
  Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
  Importance: 22/100
• Troubleshooting
  Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
  Importance: 22/100
• Management of Financial Resources
  Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
  Importance: 16/100
• Programming
  Writing computer programs.
  Importance: 16/100
• Repairing
  Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
  Importance: 3/100

Knowledge for Registered Nurses

In order of importance

• Psychology
  Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  Importance: 90/100
• Customer and Personal Service
  Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  Importance: 85/100
• Medicine and Dentistry
  Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  Importance: 84/100
• English Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  Importance: 80/100
• Administrative
  Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  Importance: 64/100
• Mathematics
  Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  Importance: 61/100
• Therapy and Counseling
  Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
  Importance: 61/100
• Administration and Management
  Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  Importance: 57/100
• Education and Training
  Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  Importance: 55/100
• Public Safety and Security
  Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  Importance: 53/100
• Biology
  Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  Importance: 51/100
• Sociology and Anthropology
  Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
  Importance: 49/100
• Computers and Electronics
  Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  Importance: 40/100
• Chemistry
  Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
  Importance: 40/100
• Personnel and Human Resources
  Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  Importance: 37/100
• Law and Government
  Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  Importance: 35/100
• Communications and Media
  Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  Importance: 33/100
• Telecommunications
  Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
  Importance: 30/100
• Philosophy and Theology
  Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
  Importance: 23/100
• Sales and Marketing
  Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  Importance: 22/100
• Foreign Language
  Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
  Importance: 21/100
• Economics and Accounting
  Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  Importance: 19/100
• Transportation
  Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  Importance: 18/100
• Production and Processing
  Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
  Importance: 16/100
• Physics
  Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
  Importance: 15/100
• Food Production
  Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
  Importance: 13/100
• Engineering and Technology
  Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
  Importance: 13/100
• History and Archeology
  Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
  Importance: 11/100
• Mechanical
  Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
  Importance: 9/100
• Design
  Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
  Importance: 7/100
• Building and Construction
  Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
  Importance: 5/100
• Geography
  Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
  Importance: 5/100

Physical Abilities for Registered Nurses

In order of importance

• Problem Sensitivity
  Noticing when problems happen.
  Importance: 78/100
• Deductive Reasoning
  Using rules to solve problems.
  Importance: 78/100
• Oral Expression
  Communicating by speaking.
  Importance: 75/100
• Oral Comprehension
  Listening and understanding what people say.
  Importance: 75/100
• Written Comprehension
  Reading and understanding what is written.
  Importance: 75/100
• Inductive Reasoning
  Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
  Importance: 75/100
• Information Ordering
  Ordering or arranging things.
  Importance: 72/100
• Speech Clarity
  Speaking clearly.
  Importance: 72/100
• Near Vision
  Seeing details up close.
  Importance: 72/100
• Speech Recognition
  Recognizing spoken words.
  Importance: 69/100
• Written Expression
  Communicating by writing.
  Importance: 69/100
• Category Flexibility
  Grouping things in different ways.
  Importance: 60/100
• Flexibility of Closure
  Seeing hidden patterns.
  Importance: 56/100
• Trunk Strength
  Using your lower back and stomach.
  Importance: 53/100
• Time Sharing
  Doing two or more things at the same time.
  Importance: 53/100
• Manual Dexterity
  Holding or moving items with your hands.
  Importance: 53/100
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  Keeping your arm or hand steady.
  Importance: 53/100
• Fluency of Ideas
  Coming up with lots of ideas.
  Importance: 53/100
• Finger Dexterity
  Putting together small parts with your fingers.
  Importance: 53/100
• Speed of Closure
  Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
  Importance: 53/100
• Perceptual Speed
  Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
  Importance: 53/100
• Memorization
  Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
  Importance: 53/100
• Far Vision
  Seeing details that are far away.
  Importance: 53/100
• Selective Attention
  Paying attention to something without being distracted.
  Importance: 53/100
• Originality
  Creating new and original ideas.
  Importance: 50/100
• Static Strength
  Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
  Importance: 50/100
• Visualization
  Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
  Importance: 50/100
• Mathematical Reasoning
  Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
  Importance: 50/100
• Multilimb Coordination
  Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
  Importance: 50/100
• Number Facility
  Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
  Importance: 50/100
• Stamina
  Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
  Importance: 47/100
• Auditory Attention
  Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
  Importance: 47/100
• Extent Flexibility
  Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  Importance: 47/100
• Visual Color Discrimination
  Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
  Importance: 44/100
• Hearing Sensitivity
  Telling the difference between sounds.
  Importance: 38/100
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
  Importance: 31/100
• Control Precision
  Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
  Importance: 31/100
• Reaction Time
  Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
  Importance: 28/100
• Dynamic Strength
  Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
  Importance: 28/100
• Response Orientation
  Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
  Importance: 28/100
• Gross Body Coordination
  Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
  Importance: 25/100
• Speed of Limb Movement
  Quickly moving your arms and legs.
  Importance: 25/100
• Depth Perception
  Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
  Importance: 25/100
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  Keeping your balance or staying upright.
  Importance: 22/100
• Rate Control
  Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
  Importance: 19/100
• Explosive Strength
  Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
  Importance: 19/100
• Dynamic Flexibility
  Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  Importance: 19/100
• Spatial Orientation
  Knowing where things are around you.
  Importance: 13/100
• Sound Localization
  Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
  Importance: 3/100

Tools and Technology used by Registered Nurses

• Peripherally inserted central catheters PICC
• Medical or surgical suction or vacuum appliances
• Acute care fetal or maternal monitoring units
• Endoscopic hemostatic balloons or needles or tubes or accessories
• Electrosurgical or electrocautery equipment
• Medical oxygen masks or parts
• Glucose monitors or meters
• Manual resuscitators
• Reflex hammers or mallets
• Diagnostic or interventional vascular catheters for general use
• Enteral feeding administration sets
• Electronic blood pressure units
• Clinical incubators or infant warmers
• Surgical clamps or clips or forceps
• Cardiac output CO monitoring units
• Hypodermic needle
• Surgical drains or drain sets
• Leg traction supplies
• Intravenous or arterial tubing adapter or connector
• Phacoemulsification or extrusion or vitrectomy equipment for ophthalmic surgery
• Therapeutic heating or cooling blankets or drapes
• Flow sensors or regulators or components
• Infusion pump kits
• Steam autoclaves or sterilizers
• Enteral feeding infusion pump tubing sets
• Mobile medical services torso immobilizers
• Ventilator accessories
• Intubation laryngoscopes
• Eye charts or vision cards
• Arm traction supplies
• Mobile medical services automated external defibrillators AED or hard paddles
• Intermittent positive pressure breathing IPPB machines
• Patient lifts
• Cardiac pacemaker generators or cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers CRT-P
• Restraint vests and jackets
• Gait belts for rehabilitation or therapy
• Medical gas cylinders or related devices
• Respiratory humidifiers or vaporizers
• Pulse oximeter units
• Vascular sequential compression devices or tubing
• Tuberculin syringes
• Medical head hoods
• Respiratory manometer kits
• Intravenous syringe infusion pumps
• Hand or finger traction supplies
• Hand held dopplers
• Lancets
• Non invasive continuous positive air pressure machines
• Clinical hydraulic lifts
• Arterial blood gas monitors
• Spirometers
• Medication or pill dispensers
• Intraaortic balloon pumps
• Vascular or compression apparel or support
• Intracranial pressure ICP monitoring units
• Perfusion oxygen or hematocrit saturation monitors
• Ventricular assist devices
• Endoscopic or surgical light sources
• Colposcopes or vaginoscopes
• Head or neck traction supplies
• Mobile resuscitator or aspirator kits
• Medical acoustic stethoscopes
• Non invasive bi level machines
• Electronic encyclopedias
• Intravenous or arterial extension tubing
• Continuous passive motion CPM devices
• Extremity restraints
• Autotransfusion units
• Gastric decompression tubes
• Cervical collars or neck braces
• Patient bed or table scales for general use
• Enema kits
• Endotracheal tubes
• Surgical needle holders
• Benchtop centrifuges
• Vaginal exam speculas
• Surgical scalpels or knives or blades or trephines
• Holter or wearable EKG monitoring systems or accessories
• Sputum collection apparatus or containers
• Surgical suction machine or vacuum extractor or ultrasonic surgical aspirator
• Radio frequency transmitters or receivers
• Medical or surgical suction sets or kits
• Patient controlled analgesia infusion pumps
• Multiparameter vital sign units
• Intravenous tubing with catheter administration kits
• Vision testing stereoscopes
• Ophthalmoscopes or otoscopes or scope sets
• Restraint straps or buckles or supplies
• Spill kits
• Hemodialysis dialyzer reprocessing systems
• Urinary catheterization kits
• Tracheostomy accessories
• Anesthesia nerve block kit or tray
• Intravenous infusion pump analyzers or sensors
• Pelvis or back traction supplies
• Lap mayo trays or mayo stands for surgical use
• Walkers or rollators
• Sexual assault determination kits
• Urological procedure trays or packs or kits
• Clinical trapeze bars
• Ultraviolet UV lamps
• Heating or drying equipment or accessories
• Surgical retractors
• Vacuum blood collection tubes or containers
• Suture removal kits or trays or packs or sets
• Blood warming or transfusion systems
• Orthopedic splint systems
• Patient motion sensors or alarms
• Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation units
• Patient care beds for general use
• Respiratory aspirator products
• Esophagogastroduodenoscopes or gastroduodenoscopes or gastroscopes
• Urinalysis analyzers
• Sigmoidoscopes
• Therapeutic heating or cooling pads or compresses or packs
• Orthopedic traction hardware or weights
• Colonoscopes
• Personal computers
• Mobile medical services head immobilizers
• Medical syringes without needle
• Skin staple removers or kits
• Oxygen therapy delivery system products
• Medical nasal cannulas
• Electrocardiography EKG transmitters or telemetry devices
• Lower extremity prosthetic devices
• Audiometers
• Canes
• Arterial line catheters
• Apnea monitors
• Surgical drapes
• Nasogastric tubes
• Electrocardiography EKG units
• Blood collection needles
• Upper extremity prosthetic devices
• Crutches
• Nebulizers
• Medical tuning forks
• Notebook computers
• Mobile medical services spine boards
• Intubation stylets
• Tourniquets
• Laser printers
• Suture needles
• Umbilical catheters
• Urinalysis test strips
• Tablet computers
• Binocular light compound microscopes
• Medical software
  • Allscripts Sunrise
  • Allscripts healthcare automation software
  • DoctorsPartner EMR
  • Electronic medical record EMR software
  • Epic Systems
  • HMS
  • Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
  • Henry Schein Dentrix
  • MEDITECH software
  • Medical condition coding software
  • Medical procedure coding software
  • PCC EHR
  • PointClickCare healthcare software
  • Prognosis Innovation Healthcare ChartAccess
  • QuadraMed Affinity Healthcare Information System
  • Siemens SIENET Sky
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
• Word processing software
  • Google Docs
  • Microsoft Word
• Data base user interface and query software
  • Data entry software
  • Database software
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Microsoft Access
• Electronic mail software
  • IBM Notes
  • Microsoft Exchange
  • Microsoft Outlook
• Cloud-based data access and sharing software
  • Google Drive
  • Microsoft SharePoint
• Human resources software
  • Human resource management software HRMS
  • Oracle Taleo
• Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel
• Categorization or classification software
  • Diagnostic and procedural coding software
• Video conferencing software
  • FaceTime
• Video creation and editing software
  • YouTube
• Office suite software
  • Microsoft Office software
• Operating system software
  • Microsoft Windows
• Business intelligence and data analysis software
  • Apache Spark
• Time accounting software
  • Kronos Workforce Timekeeper
• Presentation software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
• Web page creation and editing software
  • LinkedIn
• Project management software
  • Microsoft Project
• Calendar and scheduling software
  • Per-Se Technologies ORSOS One-Call
• Information retrieval or search software
  • Drug guide software

Employment Industries for Registered Nurses

• General medical and surgical hospitals; private
  1,533,200 employed
• Offices of physicians
  226,100 employed
• Home healthcare services
  182,400 employed
• General medical and surgical hospitals; local
  177,000 employed
• Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities)
  127,700 employed
• Federal government, excluding postal service
  106,300 employed
• Temporary help services
  99,500 employed
• General medical and surgical hospitals; state
  82,200 employed
• Specialty (except psychiatric and substance abuse) hospitals; private
  68,100 employed