Any career in nursing requires a high level of compassion, caring and knowledge of the field. There are numerous nursing specialties available to these health care professionals all of which are demanding in their own right. Those choosing pediatric nursing answer the call to care for the youngest patients.
The age range that the pediatric nurse is historically responsible for is from birth until the age of 18. The pediatric nurse is usually the primary education resource for the parents, and can work in such varied areas as doctors offices, clinics and even home health.
In addition to the basic characteristics that are beneficial to all nurses, pediatric nurses often possess additional skills and characteristics that help them with working with this specific age group. Pediatric nurses must be very patient. Infants and children are unpredictable and often frightened when have certain procedures done such as immunizations, and blood draws.
The pediatric nurse has to be able to be a great communicator with the parents, and also be compassionate of their needs, of the children they take care of. The pediatric nurse can be instrumental in calming the parent of the child during an ill visit, because parents can sometimes be more upset than the child.
The personal benefits of being a nurse is the feeling you get when you help other people. This feeling can be more enhanced for a pediatric nurse, as this patient population usually cant take care of themselves. Easing the concerns of new parents and providing care for their young patients is all in a days work for the pediatric nurse.
There are some common misbelief’s about the pediatric nursing field. One of these is that caring for children isn’t stressful compared to other nursing specialties. All I can say is that whenever your job entails caring for the well being and health of other human beings, there is stress.
As a pediatric nurse there are several certifications you can attain through training such as the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and the certified pediatric nurse designation from the Pediatric Nurses Association.