Need career advice, nursing with kids, can't handle Peds anymore?

[uRNmyway, ASN, RN]

I tried posting this in General Nursing and got no answers. Thought I might get more input here. Thanks for reading.

So here's the thing. All I have ever wanted to do is work with children. In fact, if I didn't go into nursing, I would have entered early childhood education.

I worked in mother-baby, started orientation through my nursing agency on a pediatric floor, and loved it all. Got my neonatal resuscitation class, and even completed orientation in an intermediate care nursery. I just could not get enough of it.

But now the problem: I now have a wonderful 14 month old baby girl. She is the love of my life, my pride and joy. And since the moment they put her in my arms, I started seeing her face on every sick child I was in contact with. Any child on the news, killed, dying..I saw her perfect blue eyes.

How am I supposed to reconcile having all my career plans thrown out the window? How do you moms out there who work in pediatrics do it? How do you separate yourselves from it all?

I really need help to figure it out, because as it is, I have to re-evaluate all I had planned on doing. Thank you to all for your input.

[SENSUALBLISSINFL, BSN, RN]

Wish I could give you word of wisdom, but I have none. I have no children myself so it will be dishonest to even try to come with something. However, I have a suspicion that most mothers working in pediatrics may have gone through or going through something similar. I hope you get somoene to answer your post.

Me, I am trying to get into NICU...that is my dream job.

[SENSUALBLISSINFL, BSN, RN]

Sending you best wishes that you will soon find your answer.

[uRNmyway, ASN, RN]

Thank you very much. Im still waiting on someone elses kind words of wisdom lol.

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

I haven't had that issue.... I will say that working where I do has given me a huge appreciation for the health that my children have, however. I used to think my daughter was a horrible asthmatic.... until I saw what a horrible asthmatic really looked like.

I can only separate my maternal instincts so much... there are definitely kids out there that make me cry in the car on the way home from work. Not because I imagine my child with their illnesses... but because I wish that they had the same chances and opportunities as my children. Does that make sense?

I have had a few patients that have had a huge impact on my life/career/heart. And you know what? That's ok. :) There is nothing wrong with that.

I will never be able to work outside of pediatrics. It's a special field.

[uRNmyway, ASN, RN]

Thank you for that PedsRN. I guess I hadnt looked at it that way. That it might make me appreciate my daughter's health more. Maybe I will need to explore that perspective a bit more!