CVICU nurses generally work in hospitals. CVICUs are often located in larger facilities, medical centers, and teaching hospitals. Pediatric CVICUs are located in larger pediatric facilities and children’s hospitals. Community hospitals may have smaller CVICUs. 

Some CVICU nurses are critical care transport or flight nurses. These nurses help transport critically ill cardiac patients via ambulance, helicopter, or airplane from smaller facilities to larger medical centers that can give them the specialized care they need. 

CVICU travel nurses are able to work in a wide range of facilities and hospitals throughout the country. CVICU nurses are in high demand and are needed in every area of the United States.

To become a CVICU nurse, start by completing an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. After you complete your degree, here’s what comes next:

• Pass the NCLEX-RN licensure exam and obtain your RN license in the state you wish to begin working in. Don’t forget to check out our licensure guide to better understand each state’s requirements! 
• Now that you have your license, you may be wondering, “How do I get into CVICU?” Start by applying to work in a cardiac unit of the hospital. A year or more of previous nursing, telemetry, or other cardiac experience is often required before working in the CVICU. 
• Some CVICUs allow new graduate nurses without prior nursing experience to begin working in the CVICU. They typically offer extensive training and support programs to ensure these new nurses succeed in this challenging environment. 
• The length of time it takes to become a CVICU nurse varies for everyone! Depending on the unit you are applying to work in, you may be able to start immediately upon graduation and licensure without prior nursing experience. Other programs may require a year or more of nursing experience before applying to work in a CVICU.
• Some nurses consider CVICU nursing one of the most challenging types of ICU nursing due to the complex patients, technology, treatments, and procedures. It can be difficult to start here as a brand new nurse, but a dedicated new nurse with a supportive and comprehensive training program can absolutely succeed. 
• Does this mean that CVICU nursing is harder than other types of nursing, such as ER nursing? Not necessarily! While CVICU nursing is indeed a challenging specialty, each nursing specialty has its own unique challenges. Depending on your personal preferences, interests, and skills, you may find one nursing specialty to be more or less difficult than another. 
• Once you land a CVICU nursing job, seek out learning opportunities to develop your CVICU skills and continue your education!

Opportunities abound to advance your CVICU nursing career! If you return to school for an advanced degree in nursing, such as a master’s or doctoral degree, you can become a:

• CVICU clinical nurse specialist (CNS)
• CVICU acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP)
• Nurse research scientist with a focus on CVICU nursing

If going back to school isn’t in your plan, there are still many great ways to advance and further specialize your CVICU nursing career. Without an advanced degree, you can become a: 

• CVICU nurse manager
• CVICU nurse educator
• CVICU critical care transport nurse
• Specialised in advanced CVICU technology- such as the care of patients requiring ventricular assist devices (VADs), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), Impella pumps, balloon pumps, dialysis, and more. 

CVICU nurses need an associate's or bachelor's degree in nursing and a license to practice nursing in the state they wish to work in. Once these requirements are met, here’s what to do next: 

• CVICU nurses must maintain Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certifications. If you are a pediatric CVICU nurse, you will need Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certification.   
• Once you have experience working as a CVICU nurse, you can study for and obtain a Critical Care RN Certification, or CCRN. 
• You can also consider additional cardiac nursing certifications, such as the Cardiac Medicine Certification (CMC) or Cardiac Surgery Certification (CSC). 

$85,000. CVICU travel nurses, CVICU nurses who specialise further, or CVICU nurses with advanced degrees can earn much more. White pay varies from facility to facility, CVICU nurses are amongst some of the highest-paid nurses, including other types of ICU nurses and nursing specialties.

CVICU nursing pay varies by location. Areas of the country with lower living costs typically pay lower CVICU nurse wages, and areas with a higher cost of living often pay higher wages. For example, a staff CVICU nurse in Florida currently makes an average of $81,000 annually, while a CVICU nurse in New York makes an average of $89,000 annually.

Don’t forget to use our Travel Nurse Salary Guide to stay current on the latest CVICU travel nurse pay information and trends! Here, you can also compare CVICU nurse travel pay with other travel nurse specialties pay- such as ER, ICU, medical-surgical nursing, and more.

• American Association of Critical Care Nurses- AACN
• Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing- CVSN
• American Association of Heart Failure Nurses- AAHFN