Skills Needed to be an RN

Skills, knowledge, and abilities required and used by Registered Nurses and Nurse Practitioners include:
speaking, service orientation, social perceptiveness, reading comprehension, oral comprehension, judgment and decision making, medicine and dentistry, biology, customer and personal service, chemistry, problem sensitivity, and critical thinking.

What are Registered Nurses

Registered Nurses constitute the largest group among all the health occupations. Most RNs work in acute care hospitals as hospital nurses. They care for patients at the hospital bedside, in private clinics, and in the patient´s home. Nurses may also work to help prevent disease, to educate the public about health issues, to enhance public health, and to support ill patients both physically and mentally.

What Are Nurse Practitioners

Nurse Practitioners are registered nurses with graduate level training in diagnostic and health assessment skills. Their training allows them to provide basic medical care. They relieve physicians of many time consuming tasks. They perform the following tasks with the direction of a supervising physician:
· interview patients, take medical histories, perform physical examinations, order laboratory tests, make tentative diagnoses, and prescribe appropriate treatments.
· prescribe medication and medical devices if they have a nurse practitioner certificate.
· refer patients to physicians for consultation or to specialized health resources for treatment.