New specialty for ICU and emergency nurses: two-year residency and rotations

Caring for a patient in cardiac arrest, working in an ICU or responding to an out-of-hospital emergency requires specific training and split-second decisions. Spain’s National Health System has now taken the first step toward recognizing that training with a new nursing specialty focused on critical care, urgent care and emergencies. The Human Resources Commission of Spain’s National Health System has agreed to begin processing the Critical Care, Urgent Care and Emergency Nursing specialty, aimed at caring for patients in life-threatening situations and cases of high clinical complexity, both inside and outside hospitals. The proposal, submitted by the Spanish Society of Intensive Care and Coronary Unit Nursing (SEEIUC) and the Spanish Society of Emergency and Urgent Care Nursing (SEEUE), brings critical care, hospital emergency care and out-of-hospital emergency care together in a single training program. TWO YEARS OF RESIDENCY TRAINING The planned competencies include classifying patients according to their care priority, detecting signs of life-threatening conditions, applying life-support measures and managing techniques such as assisted ventilation. It also covers coordinating medical transfers and responding to disasters or incidents involving multiple casualties. The training plan proposes two years of residency, with supervised rotations in intensive care units, emergency departments, mobile units and medical coordination centers. The program would combine clinical practice, theoretical content, simulation and continuous assessment. The new specialty aims to establish standardized training for professionals working in these areas and strengthen continuity of care from initial assistance and transfer through admission to a critical care unit.