Critical Care Nurse

Intensive care nurses look after very ill patients in hospital. They monitor their condition closely and help doctors and other nurses work as a team to give the best care possible.

Critical Care Nurse

6

Nursing and Midwifery

AI IMPACT
AI CAN DO6%moving to54%
THE DOOR, NOWB
THE DOOR, 20 YRSC
STARTING PAY£30,000 - £36,000
REGULATORY MOATThe law requires human oversight. That human could be you.
This job holds up well against AI
AI cannot yet do much of what this job actually involves, and the law requires human oversight. That human could be you. That is about as safe as careers get right now, though it is still worth learning to use the tools well.

The role

As an intensive care nurse, you work in a busy hospital ward where patients are very ill and need constant attention. You watch their heart rate, blood pressure and breathing, use machines to help them, and give them medicines. You work closely with doctors and other nurses and notice straight away if something changes.

The work is demanding and sometimes you will see patients die, but you also see people recover because of the care you give them. You need to stay focused and calm when things happen quickly, and to talk clearly so families understand what is going on.

Daily responsibilities

  • Monitor and assess patients' vital signs and medical history continuously.
  • Administer medications and intravenous therapies as prescribed.
  • Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to develop and implement care plans.
  • Provide emotional support and information to patients' families.
  • Utilize advanced medical equipment and technology for patient care.
  • Document patient progress and treatment responses accurately.
  • Respond swiftly to emergencies, implementing life-saving procedures.
  • Educate patients and families on post-care needs and recovery processes.

Does a degree help here?

A UK degree is highly regarded in the healthcare sector, providing you with a solid foundation in evidence-based practice and critical thinking. This gives you a competitive edge over local graduates who may not have the same level of training or exposure to advanced medical technologies.

Careermash

Careermash: navigate your career path with real data. Explore career profiles, salary benchmarks, AI impact forecasts, and the qualifications you need to get there.


AI EXPOSURE = the share of a job's day-to-day tasks AI can already do today, from the same exposure engine used across this site (Anthropic labour market research, 2026, observed real-world AI usage by occupation). Higher means more exposed. It is a measurement of now, not a prediction. THE DOOR = how hard the job is to get into, grade A (easy) to E (extremely hard), from each career's published forecast (OpenAI, "The AI Jobs Transition Framework", Richmond 2026, CC BY 4.0). A card marked MOAT NOT YET CLASSIFIED has a real exposure score but no entry yet in our moat register, so we make no claim about what structurally protects it. Scorecard grades and verdicts are Careermash editorial judgment: we show forecasts as forecasts and own our conclusions. Salary and pathway figures are each career's own published profile. Careermash is a service provided by What School Ltd.

Part of the Sand Education ecosystem:Spill.orgWhatSchool.aiWhatCareer.netCourseMash.org