Disappointing news, what can I do?

Nurses General Nursing

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I recently heard that I did not get in to the medical professions high school that I had really been hoping to go to next year. That would have been a great head start so I've been kind of down. I'm fourteen. The hospitals say I am too young to volunteer and I don't know if I am old enough to be a CNA (can't seem to find that age anywhere for my state, but I probably am too young). I'm feeling kind of hopeless because even though I am young, I really want to be able to do something nursing related. I want to be a pediatric nurse and while I can help my little cousins when they're sick, have a scrape, e.t.c, I'm pretty sure that's not quite how it is in a hospital ;)

Are there any good books about/written by pediatric nurses? Anything you would recommend me to do for a head start? Do you think I could possibly convince the hospital to let me volunteer early? (If you have any experiences with that, sharing would be great.) Basically, I want to do things I can to get experience, or learn about nursing.

Thanks in advance!

~WannabeNurse(:

Specializes in LTC, Med-Surg.

My daughter is fifteen and volunteers through the junior volunteer program at my hospital actually on my unit. See if you have something like that where you live. With parental consent, of course. Sometimes she fills water pitchers or spends time with some of our older and lonely patients. Junior volunteers are a godsend with some of our more needy patients. If you can't find something like this, hang in there...you'll be old enough in just a few years. Good luck in your endeavors!

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Specializes in LTC.

In my area I know some of the local hospitals have summer camp type programs for kids interested in health care. You could go through your local hospital websites and see if that is something that they do.

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Specializes in Cardiac Step-Down, Family Medicine.

Sorry to hear you didn't get into the school. You can take comfort in the fact that you are already ahead of most people your age just by knowing what you want to do, and having the enthusiasm and commitment to pursue it.

As far as books to read-- You really don't need to read anything clinically related. You'll get enough of that eventually. I suggest you keep the motivation up by reading the Chicken Soup for Nurses books. They have inspiring, moving, and humorous stories that will help you better understand the profession and the people in it. Another excellent book to read is non-fiction, called The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. It follows a tragic story of a 7-year old Hmong child and centers around the importance of cultural understanding in health care. It's a great book that we had the option of reading when I was taking my peds course in nursing school. Everyone who read it loved it!

Good luck to you! Continue to follow your dreams. And also, enjoy being a teenager--it goes by too quickly.

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If you'd like a good book about pediatric nursing, see if you can find a copy of One Children's Place. It is about several children's stories as they sought treatment in Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and is a great read, esp for someone who is considering nursing. I think the author is Lee Gutkind. :nurse:

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

It may be considered a bit old-fashioned, but have you considered enrolling in a Red Cross Babysitter certification course? It covers a lot of hands-on topics having to do with young children, including basic first aid and childhood development. If your goal is to work in pediatrics, it is a natural fit for you. Here is a link with more information http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.53fabf6cc033f17a2b1ecfbf43181aa0/?vgnextoid=5ced914124dbe110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD .

Also - becoming a "certified" babysitter could add to your income, especially if you market yourself correctly. If you think about it, babysitting is actually a great starting place for a nursing career.

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Thank you everybody for your responses and positivity! I am currently a Red Cross certified babysitter :) I'll see about junior volunteer programs at hospitals around here, and look into what I can. Thanks for the book suggestions, also!

Thanks again. Your encouragement and compliments really mean a lot to me. :heartbeat

~WannabeNurse(:

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