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29-1141.01 · Task explorer

Acute Care Nurses: reported tasks and exploration worksheet

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.

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This source lists 27 tasks, including 23 marked Core and 4 marked Supplemental. Labels and dates are retained below. Employers can combine or divide these responsibilities differently; explore the task itself before assuming it belongs in every version of the role.

Task source dates: 08/2025.

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27 tasks shown

Core · Task 18307 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Discuss illnesses and treatments with patients and family members.

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Core · Task 18298 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Diagnose acute or chronic conditions that could result in rapid physiological deterioration or life-threatening instability.

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Core · Task 18302 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Perform emergency medical procedures, such as basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and other condition-stabilizing interventions.

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Core · Task 18303 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Assess urgent and emergent health conditions, using both physiologically and technologically derived data.

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Core · Task 18310 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Set up, operate, or monitor invasive equipment and devices, such as colostomy or tracheotomy equipment, mechanical ventilators, catheters, gastrointestinal tubes, and central lines.

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Core · Task 18308 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Document data related to patients' care, including assessment results, interventions, medications, patient responses, or treatment changes.

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Core · Task 18316 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Administer blood and blood product transfusions or intravenous infusions, monitoring patients for adverse reactions.

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Core · Task 18301 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Interpret information obtained from electrocardiograms (EKGs) or radiographs (x-rays).

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Core · Task 18323 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Perform administrative duties that facilitate admission, transfer, or discharge of patients.

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Core · Task 18311 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Obtain specimens or samples for laboratory work.

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Core · Task 18300 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Manage patients' pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, monitoring patients' responses, and changing care plans accordingly.

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Core · Task 18306 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Collaborate with members of multidisciplinary health care teams to plan, manage, or assess patient treatments.

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Core · Task 18318 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Assess the needs of patients' family members or caregivers.

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Core · Task 18313 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Participate in patients' care meetings and conferences.

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Core · Task 18309 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Treat wounds or superficial lacerations.

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Core · Task 18321 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in acute care.

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Core · Task 18324 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Provide formal and informal education to other staff members.

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Core · Task 18319 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Collaborate with patients to plan for future health care needs or to coordinate transitions and referrals.

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Core · Task 18297 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Analyze the indications, contraindications, risk complications, and cost-benefit tradeoffs of therapeutic interventions.

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Core · Task 18299 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Distinguish between normal and abnormal developmental and age-related physiological and behavioral changes in acute, critical, and chronic illness.

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Core · Task 18305 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Assess the impact of illnesses or injuries on patients' health, function, growth, development, nutrition, sleep, rest, quality of life, or family, social and educational relationships.

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Core · Task 18322 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Participate in the development of practice protocols.

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Core · Task 18317 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Assist patients in organizing their health care system activities.

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Supplemental · Task 18304 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Adjust settings on patients' assistive devices, such as temporary pacemakers.

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Supplemental · Task 18314 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Prescribe medications and observe patients' reactions, modifying prescriptions as needed.

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Supplemental · Task 18312 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Order, perform, or interpret the results of diagnostic tests and screening procedures based on assessment results, differential diagnoses, and knowledge about age, gender and health status of clients.

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Supplemental · Task 18315 · 08/2025 · Occupational Expert

Refer patients for specialty consultations or treatments.

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Make the shortlist useful

Choose one to three activities that tell you something different about the work. Avoid selecting several ways of describing the same interest.
For each, write an example you can discuss or a question that would change your understanding of the role.
Keep source task IDs with your notes so you can return to the same description. Do not include private employer or customer information.

The exported worksheet distinguishes the reported task from your own notes. It supports exploration, not a hiring decision or a validated assessment.

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Source and practice material

Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.

Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.