Adult NT to Peds RN?

[lizzielizzard03]

Hi everyone,

Ive been using allnurses as a resource for all my questions Ive had about the nursing world for over a year now but this is my first post. Im currently working in a hospital as a Nursing Assistant, picking up shifts on floors that need the help. I basically only work in the adult side but know I have a love for peds and know thats what I want to go into once I graduate nursing school. I was just offered a job on the adult cardiology/cardiothoracic floor as a Nurse Technician and I'm not sure what I should do. I know this is a great opportunity since right now I float around to all floors of the hospital and it would be great to have a permanent "home" and to get the extra training to become a nurse tech. My only concern is that when it comes time for me to find a job as a pediatric RN, I will have difficultly since I dont have that peds experiance. This new job would be a nice promotion (extra pay, full time, with benefit options and PTO- all things I dont currently have) but I dont feel like that is a floor I would want to work on once Im a RN.

I also interviewed for a pediatric ED job. This would only be part-time and when we got done with the interview she said "well, you're the first interview out of a long line of people"... doesnt sound that promising. But she did ask if I wanted to job shadow for 4 hours next week since I have never been pulled to the ED before.

They are expanding the childrens hospital and will be hiring late this year but if I take the cardiology job I was offered, I cant change floors for 6 months. So I guess my question is- should I take the cardiology NT job and maybe volunteer over at the children's hospital, maybe pick up shifts there if they need help, and maybe find a job at the children's hospital in 6 months? Or should I hope I get hired in the pediatric ED, and if not keep my NA floating job and hold out for my dream pediatric job to hopefully give me a "in" once Im an RN?

Thanks in advance for all your advice!

[jstr]

Can you first try to shadow an RN on a peds unit for a few hours? That may help you decide. The ED and inpatient units are very different experiences, if you can shadow both, that would be a plus.

Good luck!

[lysharnbsn]

This is a very good question. I agree with the statement above...........perhaps shadowing would be benificial for you. The cardio job sounds stable, and would also provide great experiance for nursing school. Cardio can be very hard, and that would be awesome experiance. If you need the stable hours, and the insurance this would be a nice route to go. You could always volunteer at the childrens hospital, to assure that is what you truly want to do. Pick up shifts there too, when available. Becoming a well rounded nurse is very important. Looks like you could have some great experiances set up for you!

Lysha, RN, BSN