Is this part of a nursing career?

[Mireame]

So I am in college to major as an RN and recently I have obtained my CNA license so I can start gaining some experience in the nurse field. I don't think I want to work in LTC nursing home so I looked up other possibilities I can do with my CNA license and applied to whatever CNA related job I could find.

I do want to, however, specialize in pediatrics on down the road so I wanted to try to find a way I can gain experience with children while working as an entry-level nurse.

I have gotten an invitation to a phone interview for a job as a registered behavior technician working with children with autism or other disabilities. Is a registered behavior technician even a nurse or even close to a nursing career? Could I use this job to gain experience in pediatric RN?

[Sour Lemon]

So I am in college to major as an RN and recently I have obtained my CNA license so I can start gaining some experience in the nurse field. I don't think I want to work in LTC nursing home so I looked up other possibilities I can do with my CNA license and applied to whatever CNA related job I could find.

I do want to, however, specialize in pediatrics on down the road so I wanted to try to find a way I can gain experience with children while working as an entry-level nurse.

I have gotten an invitation to a phone interview for a job as a registered behavior technician working with children with autism or other disabilities. Is a registered behavior technician even a nurse or even close to a nursing career? Could I use this job to gain experience in pediatric RN?

Anything that's not an actual nursing job won't be considered nursing experience. Working with children might give you an edge for a pediatric position after graduating from nursing school, but there is no guarantee. Most people in need of nursing care are elderly adults, not children ...so it can be a competitive area to break into.

[OpinionatedCNA, CNA]

If you provide direct patient care (helping assist toileting/feeding/dressing) for them then it will be much more desirable towards your future nursing career than something that is akin to babysitting.

As for pediatrics, I know a bunch of people (students like me) who want to work with pediatrics. I don't want to be a downer but I highly doubt most of them will be able to deal with pediatrics I assume most of them will end up in other specialties, and because they chose it that way. What you've idealized in your head what pediatrics is, is probably not reality, and chances are you will find another specialty you like more that you've never given a second thought.

Anyway what I'm trying to say is that it is not super productive to be nit-picking right now trying to focus on what specialty you think you want to do in the future. Choose whatever job interests you NOW, and you can can worry about pediatric nursing when you've been accepting into nursing school and you've had more experience working with kids.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I was a HH aide while going to school. I thought I wanted peds so I ended up getting a great job for a great family to care for their chronically ill child (non-verbal, PEG tube). later, in clinical, I found that peds is much more emotionally taxing than I bargained for. I worked in LTC rehab and LOVED it. I am now an ortho nurse on an ortho unit.

Working in facilities with profoundly disabled kids is very difficult. More difficult than adults, I think.