SOC 29-1141.01Bright outlook

    Acute Care Nurses

    Provide advanced nursing care for patients with acute conditions such as heart attacks, respiratory distress syndrome, or shock.

    Median pay
    $97,550
    Growth
    +5.6%
    Faster than average
    Openings a year
    180,800
    Typical education
    Bachelor's degree

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections · figures for the broader BLS group "Registered nurses"

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $68,940
    Median
    $97,550
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $137,470
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    3,379,720 people work in this occupation.

    In short

    Acute care nurses provide advanced medical care to patients facing severe, sudden health conditions. This career, which belongs to the registered nurse family, offers a median annual pay of $97,550.

    Written with AI from the BLS, O*NET and CareerOneStop data on this page. Every figure is checked against that data before it is published.

    What acute care nurses do

    Job Zone 4: Considerable preparation

    Provide advanced nursing care for patients with acute conditions such as heart attacks, respiratory distress syndrome, or shock. May care for pre- and post-operative patients or perform advanced, invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.

    Most need a bachelor's degree and several years of related experience.

    What the work is like

    Professionals in this field care for patients dealing with urgent medical crises, such as shock, respiratory distress, or heart attacks. They may manage pre-operative and post-operative care or carry out advanced, invasive therapeutic and diagnostic procedures. Daily tasks center on assisting and caring for others, gathering information, and making critical decisions to solve complex medical problems. They must document patient information, coordinate with supervisors and peers, and teach or train others.

    Success in this role requires strong skills in critical thinking, active listening, reading comprehension, and service orientation. Nurses must monitor patient conditions closely and use sound judgment under pressure. This career appeals to individuals with a strong social interest who enjoy helping others. Essential knowledge areas include medicine, customer service, psychology, and therapy. To handle the high-pressure environment, these nurses must demonstrate stress tolerance, attention to detail, dependability, self-control, and empathy.

    How to get there

    Entering this career typically requires a bachelor's degree. Because this occupation involves considerable preparation, most professionals also need several years of experience in a related nursing role. Relevant college majors include registered nursing, nursing administration, and nursing research and clinical nursing.

    Licensing requirements vary, as some states list a license for this work. Additionally, professionals can earn specialized credentials, such as the Critical Care Registered Nurse (Adult) certification offered by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

    Pay and outlook explained

    The median annual pay for this career is $97,550, though this figure represents the broader registered nurse group. The lowest 10% of earners in this group make less than $68,940, while the highest 10% earn more than $137,470. There are 3,379,720 people employed in this field. Between 2025 and 2035, employment is projected to grow by 5.6%, which is faster than average. This growth is expected to result in 180,800 job openings each year.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    45 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    78 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    13 / 100
    Social (S) · strongest
    80 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    13 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    39 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code SIR. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Assisting and Caring for Others
    92
    Documenting/Recording Information
    88
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    86
    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    86
    Getting Information
    84
    Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
    84
    Training and Teaching Others
    80
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    80
    Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    79
    Working with Computers
    78
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Critical Thinking
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Service Orientation
    • Speaking
    • Active Learning
    • Active Listening
    • Complex Problem Solving
    • Coordination
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Monitoring

    Knowledge

    • Medicine and Dentistry
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Education and Training
    • English Language
    • Psychology
    • Therapy and Counseling
    • Administration and Management
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Biology
    • Mathematics

    Abilities

    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Written Comprehension
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Inductive Reasoning
    • Information Ordering
    • Near Vision
    • Speech Clarity
    • Speech Recognition

    Work styles

    • Attention to Detail
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Dependability
    • Cooperation
    • Self-Control
    • Cautiousness
    • Integrity
    • Perseverance
    • Empathy
    • Adaptability

    Also called

    Acute Care Nurse · Admission Nurse · Admission Nurse Coordinator · Cardiac Interventional Care Nurse · Cardiovascular ICU Nurse (Cardiovascular Intense Care Unit Nurse) · Cardiovascular Surgery Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (Cardiovascular Surgery ACNP) · Care Transitions Manager · Care Transitions Nurse · Charge Nurse · Chronic Condition Nurse

    Career pathway

    From your interests to acute care nurses

    Interests that fit the work, the career, majors that lead there and colleges whose graduates in those majors earn the most. Hover or focus a step to follow one path.

    1. Interests

    2. This career

      • Acute Care Nurses$97,550 median pay

    3. Majors

    4. Colleges

    College Scorecard program outcomes

    Colleges with strong outcomes

    Programs that lead to this career, ranked by what their graduates earn four years after finishing. Earnings are for graduates who received federal aid.

    1. 1
      California State University-East Bay

      Hayward, CA · Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $139,123
      4 yrs after
      $150,921
      Median debt
      $18,751
    2. 2
      San Francisco State University

      San Francisco, CA · Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $145,008
      4 yrs after
      $150,102
      Median debt
      $13,331
    3. 3Dominican University of California logo
      Dominican University of California

      San Rafael, CA · Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $128,516
      4 yrs after
      $149,622
      Median debt
      $26,243
    4. 4Sonoma State University logo
      Sonoma State University

      Rohnert Park, CA · Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $134,423
      4 yrs after
      $143,886
      Median debt
      $12,500
    5. 5University of San Francisco USF logo
      University of San Francisco USF

      San Francisco, CA · Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $120,438
      4 yrs after
      $143,356
      Median debt
      $25,000
    6. 6Pacific Union College logo
      Pacific Union College

      Angwin, CA · Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $126,952
      4 yrs after
      $140,542
      Median debt
      $29,584
    7. 7California State University-Monterey Bay logo
      California State University-Monterey Bay

      Seaside, CA · Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $127,203
      4 yrs after
      $134,489
      Median debt
      $6,375
    8. 8Pacific College-California logo
      Pacific College-California

      Costa Mesa, CA · Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      Not reported
      4 yrs after
      $132,148
      Median debt
      $32,611

    Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data, 2025. Programs with few graduates are not listed.

    NCES CIP–SOC crosswalk

    Majors that lead here

    Related programs by four-digit CIP code. They are common routes in, not the only ones.

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What acute care nurses may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Certifications

    Core certifications employers recognise for this work.

    Search all certifications on CareerOneStop

    Training

    Programs of study that prepare people for this work. Showing 12 of 21.

    • Adult Health Nurse/Nursing
    • Clinical Nurse Leader
    • Clinical Nurse Specialist
    • Critical Care Nursing
    • Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing
    • Family Practice Nurse/Nursing
    • Forensic Nursing
    • Geriatric Nurse/Nursing
    • Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing
    • Nursing Administration
    • Nursing Practice
    • Nursing Science

    Find training near you on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    36 states list a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Your plan

    Build my pathway plan

    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

    All careers

    Questions about acute care nurses

    Written with AI from the BLS, O*NET and CareerOneStop data on this page. Every figure is checked against that data before it is published.

    What are some alternative job titles for acute care nurses?

    People in this profession are also called charge nurses, cardiac interventional care nurses, cardiovascular ICU nurses, care transitions managers, and admission nurse coordinators.

    What level of education and experience is typically required?

    Most professionals need a bachelor's degree to enter the field. They also generally need several years of related work experience before stepping into acute care roles.

    How fast is employment in this field expected to grow?

    Employment is projected to increase by 5.6% from 2025 to 2035. This rate of growth is faster than average and is expected to generate 180,800 openings annually.

    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.