Is Peds really for me?

I am a 4th semester male nursing student and am looking strongly at doing peds. I loved my clinical rotation last semester and have heard that males are needed and that in general they are always looking for people in pediatric care. Trust your heart. If you second guess your gut you always get in trouble. Do what you love!

I work in a Pediatric ER, and a lot of babies come through. The thing about the ER is you stabilize and either send them home, or move them to the floor, so you don't spend a lot of time with the kids. In reality, you are mostly dealing with the parents, and the parents of babies are sometimes a little more demanding. Also, their are A LOT of male nurses in my unit. Not so much on the floors, but in the ER, I would guess a third of the nurses are male.

Male peds nurses are great!! I only wish we had more. I agree with a previous poster that they are a tremendous asset to a floor and I know alot of people I work with feel the same way, because we talk about it!

Regarding a preferred age group, I agree that you need to be able to give competent care to all age groups, especially in an ER. If you prefer a certain age group, you can always work in an area that tends to have more of that age. Myself, I'm not a big fan of the sick toddler, but I love all the other ages and of course give good care to toddlers. I think most people probably have an age they prefer. You can find out the typical age breakdown in your area when you interview. Also the longer you work in peds, the more comfortable you will be with that younger age group.

OP, did you take the job??

Even if you don't love all the ages, you can still give good nursing care to them all. I've been a peds nurse 19 years and can take care of any age. I have my favorite age groups, too. But you can do what you need to.