Trauma Nurse

Duties and Responsibilities: A trauma nurse is a nurse who specializes in acute emergency care involving severe trauma. They usually work in an emergency room (ER Nurse), critical care unit, or perhaps for a transport company that specializes in transporting critical patients to the nearest hospital. A flight nurse would be an example of a trauma nurse working for a transport company.

Salary: Trauma nurses earn on the higher end of salary ranges for RNs. According to salary expert.com, the average salary for trauma nurses in major cities ranges from $80,000 to $128,000. Nationally, the average salary is $58,000, according to simplyhired.com.

Education: If this sounds like a nursing path that is for you, you need to first find the right nursing program. The first step toward any nursing specialty is to become a licensed registered nurse (RN). There a few different paths toward becoming an RN. You can earn an associate degree in nursing (ADN) or associate of science in nursing (ASN), which takes only two to three years. You can also earn a nursing diploma from a hospital program in just two to three years, although this option is becoming increasingly less common. Ideally, your best bet is to earn a bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN), which will help make you much more competitive in the trauma nursing job market. Other options are first earning a diploma or associate degree, which can be a stepping stone toward later earning a bachelor’s degree through one of the many online rn to bsn programs offered throughout the country. If you already have a bachelor’s degree in a different subject area, you can look for an accelerated bsn nursing program, which will take about two years to complete. Nursing programs will cover many science and health related subjects, in addition to clinical lab training in hospitals or clinics. In addition to nursing related topics, you will study subjects like chemistry, psychology, nutrition, anatomy, physiology, and microbiology. When you graduate from an accredited nursing program, you must take the NCLEX-RN, which is the National Council Licensure Examination as a final step in becoming a nurse in most states.

Reflection: This would be a good job to work as because it’s not that hard and it seems  like a cool job.