Need advice on peds position application

[Robins19, LVN]

I am apply for a 12hr peds office LPN shift at a hospital that is know to be pretty fast paced.

I have less than 6 months of peds experience, mostly working with outpatient diabetic students. I've been out of school for 2 whole years. Not to mention the nursing school I attended didn't even show us the procedure to check in pediatric patients.

I really want the experience and I absolutely love children. I'm hoping to be a great peds nurse one day. I was hoping someone could give advice on whether or not I should be taking this position when I don't feel equipped with all the right knowledge and skills. Or should I take this position as a challenge and learning experience.

[nursel56]

Peds is a specialty and due to that it's generally the norm to have a relatively few number of clinical hours in nursing school, so don't let that stop you from applying! I think the first thing you need to have is a genuine desire to work with children and the kind of personality that builds a rapport with them . . there are lots of threads in the peds forum on that.

I would study up on my growth and development milestones, what is done at the "well child visits", immunizations and their schedules and the most common types of diagnoses you will see although I'm not clear what a 12 hour office job is -- is it like an urgent care within a hospital? Either way nobody expects a nurse to magically know how to work with a specialty population so don't let that stop you.

All the best to get the job you want!

[WoosahRN, MSN, RN]

Most of what you learn will be on the job skills. And kids don't read the text books so your expertise will be gained through experience. Be honest about your skills and find out who are the best teachers or those with the most experience.

In my two year RN program, we had 8 WEEKS of psych clinicals and two days of Peds. I got a peds job as a new grad and a year later went to PICU. So school clinicals are definitely not an indicator of real life jobs.

Good luck!

[not2bblue]

Nursing school is for a general education, they wont worry about specialty fields. They won't teach you how to check in a patient in because that is not a general nursing skill and every place will do it differently. An MA student may learn that but their focus is dr office and that isn't the focus for lpn or rn. They should not expect you to know and they will train you. I am a bit confused because you said "peds office in a hospital "... so, not sure what you are looking at exactly, but apply for it. A lot of nursing is on the job training based on a general education. Honestly, the being out of school 2 years if unemployed is a bigger issue than lack of experience per se. Lots of jobs will not hire anyone who isnt currently (or more an a few months) working. Good luck!!