Subacute Care Nurse

Answer 1

The field of nursing is further subdivided into a range of fields that provide specific types of nursing care. A nurse in a NICU will have entirely different responsibilities from a nurse in an emergency room. Subacute Care Nurses provide total inpatient care for people who suffer from an acute illness, a severe injury, or the long-term impact of a chronic disease. When patients need specific types of care immediately after (or even in place of) acute care hospitalization, it is Subacute Care Nurses who provide this service.

Subacute Care Nurses work with patients who have active medical conditions that need total nursing care. Subacute Care Nurses are also in charge of administering complex treatments that would otherwise require a stay in a hospital, such as pain management for chronic pain patients, or end of life care for the dying. Subacute Care is an intensive type of care that requires more work than you’d find in a nursing home setting, but is still less involved than fully acute care. Conditions that sometimes require a Subacute Care Nurse include AIDS treatment, postoperative care, brain injury recovery, severe infections, hospice, and ventilator treatment.

People interested in a career as a Subacute Care Nurse should be fully prepared to work with all age groups, with special emphasis on elderly patients. Subacute Nurses need top notch clinical skills, and the adaptability to work both on their own and as part of a complete medical team. Training in extended-care, surgical care, and critical patient treatment (including IV therapy and, tracheostomy skills) is a must. Subacute Nurses must have their RN or BSN in order to find work.

Median starting salary in this field, according to US News and World Report, is about $54,000, though your actual starting salary is highly dependent on the region you work in, your past experience, and what type of care facility you work in. Subacute Nurses in hospitals tend to earn more than those who work in long-term care facilities like nursing homes. The highest reported starting salary for a Subacute Care Nurse is $66,000 for nurses working in large markets like New York City or Los Angeles.