Never Thought I Would Be a Peds Nurse but...

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

Here I am. New Grad RN with a licence exactly 1 week old and offered a Peds Med/Surg position at small hospital. (Of course I have spent the last two years in Peds Homecare as an LPN, but it was mainly because it made it easier to go to school)

When I started nursing school all I remember saying was anything but Peds. I even freaked out about Peds clinicals at first, course they went well... but it's odd how we end up places we never expected.

So did any of you end up in this specialty by accident?

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I wound up in peds by accident too. I wasn't really looking to avoid it actively, it just wasn't anything that appealed to me, and I always thought it was kinda a fluffy specialty. The one and only job offer I got as a new grad was in the ER of a pediatric hospital, and it turned out I love working in peds. I just spent a few months working in adult care because I felt I needed that experience and have been miserable the entire time. I wonder if I would have thought I just hate nursing if I'd started out in a job working with adults?

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Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.

I knew before I graduated I wanted to work in Peds & I was lucky enough to get a new grad residency in Peds. There's not enough money in the world to make me want to work with adults!

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Specializes in Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant.

I wasn't planning on working Peds either! Of course, life had a different idea. I had a background in education working with children before nursing school and the idea of working with sick children just felt scary and too emotionally challenging for me...but my first/only job offer after school was in peds onc (I had been targeting oncology from the start) and now I am so happy I am working in this specialty. I realized all my fears were really because I love kids so much and didn't want to be around them suffering, but I've come around significantly and have learned so many ways to help them. Very, very fulfilling. I am even interested in working peds palliative care/hospice someday. What a switch!

The girl in my class who was certain she wanted to be in peds now works on an adult tele unit. You never know...

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Specializes in Private Practice- wellness center.

Oh LaRose you have my dream job!!!

I started RN school wanting to go become a midwife. After my Peds clinical it was where I KNEW I wanted to be. I lucked out and got on a peds M/S unit at a small hospital. I also have the occasional adult patient, but I LOVE the kids. Once I have experience under my belt, I plan on searching for a peds oncology job in the city I commute from. (Either that or pediatric home health, as there are a few agencies around that specialize in peds.)

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Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.

Hi, KristeyK,

I work for one of those agencies that specializes in Peds & I love it. I do private duty home care so it's just 1 patient at a time. I worked in hospitals in general Peds, PICU, & NICU for 29 years and finally had to take a "quieter" job for my sanity & my health. I wouldn't trade this job for anything.

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I've always loved Peds. However, I always thought I would go to NICU or L&D once school was done. But when I couldn't land a job in those specialties due to my lack of experience, I applied for PICU to work with a girlfriend of mine. She ended up taking another position with CVICU before her PICU position even started! 4 years later, I am a proud PICU nurse. =) my friend on the other hand did CVICU for

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