Qualifications/Skills of a PCU Nurse

A PCU nurse career begins once you have graduated from nursing school, passed the NCLEX and then obtained your RN license in the appropriate state. From there, you can start to gain clinical experience as a PCU nurse. 

PCU nurse careers can be found in both big city hospitals and smaller rural community medical centers. Sometimes, you will be required to have hands-on experience, while other PCU nurse jobs do not require any previous clinical experience. 

PCU Nurse Certifications

Most PCU nurses will be required to have Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certifications. Depending on the PCU nurse job description and the patient population in the PCU, you may be required to obtain additional certifications and/or training. 

For more information on certification, you can turn to the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN), which is the world's largest specialty nursing organization. The AACN Certification Corporation offers over 20 different certifications for different ICU specialties and subspecialties--with most being a variation of the Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) certification. One of the certifications for PCU nurses that you may be interested in pursuing is the PCCN -adult certification.

“PCCN® is a specialty certification for nurses who provide direct care to acutely ill adult patients regardless of their physical location. Nurses interested in this certification may work in areas such as intermediate care, direct observation, stepdown, telemetry, transitional care or emergency departments,” according to the AACN.

Read More About PCU Travel Nursing Salary and Requirements from the link below.

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