Advice for New Grad Peds Nurse (first job!)

[joshriveraaa]

Hello everyone!

I graduated from Hunter College's accelerated 2nd degree program in January. Since then I've passed my NCLEX (:)) and (luckily) landed a job on a Pediatric med surge unit. Peds was my first choice, so I'm very happy about it!

I was wondering:

1. What advice can you offer to a new graduate nurse ready to begin his first job?
   
2. ..any Pediatric-specific advice?
   
3. In your experience are there any peds-specific disorders/procedures/things I should brush up on?
   

Thanks SO much in advance for your time & help!

[mkrn32]

I could use some help with this too! Starting a pediatric job in August!

[GE90]

would be nice to do some readings about bronchiolitis/asthma/gastro/t1dm/appendicitis+ectomy/pneumonia/meningitis+viral meningitis/sepsis/neonatal sepsis/mesenteric adenitis/cellulitis/ulnar fracture/fracture femur/neuroV assessment/resp. assess/high-flow o2 machine

sorry about my spelling~

i'm also a new grad in paeds, started 3months ago

[poppycat, ADN, BSN]

I have a few book suggestions. I've been a Peds nurse for 38 years & I still love these.

1. Pediatric Nursing Made Incredibly Easy

2. Pediatric Facts Made Incredibly Quick

This is a pocket-size, spiral bound book that has everything you need to know about basic Peds care. Growth & development, assessment, lab values, vitals, meds, etc. etc. One big plus for this book is that all the pages are coated so they can be wiped clean. This is a great reference you can easily carry with you.

3. Pediatric Nursing Quick Study.

This isn't a book. It's more of a pamphlet with 3 laminated pages that fold out & has a lot of the information that the Quick Facts book has.

Amazon has all 3 of the above references.

You'll definitely need to know med calculations. If you do a dosage calculation & you're not sure if it's right, ASK FOR HELP! This is extremely important. Not only do you have to calculate how much you need to give the child to get the correct dose; you have to know whether the dose ordered is appropriate for the child's weight.

Definitely brush up on growth & development. Know what's "normal" so you'll be able to tell when something's off.

Fact of life: parents of sick kids can be a pain. Don't let them get to you.

There's a lot to learn but I've never regretted choosing Peds as my specialty. I knew from the minute I stepped into nursing school that's where I wanted to be.

Good luck & let me know if I can help with anything else.