Old dog new tricks?

[HoosierRN06]

I've been an adult nurse for 14 years. I bounced between ER and pre/post caths and op surgery. I've always wanted to do peds and my town just built a peds hospital. I applied and got a job working on a general med/surg floor starting next month. I'm really nervous and feel like I'm starting at the beginning again. I just wanted to know if you could share something you wish you had known before you started working in peds?

[JRT1, MSN, RN]

Congratulations! Pediatrics can be very rewarding. Also, don't discount your skills! Its true that kids aren't just small adults BUT many of the skills that you have acquired over the last 14 years will be very applicable. In fact I bet you can share some of your knowledge to help even experienced pediatric nurses. As someone who has hired RNs for pediatric med/surg I always liked hiring the seasoned RNs without pediatric experiences. Usually these nurses are eager to learn like a new grad but have already figured out "nursing intuition".

But to your question... that is a difficult one. I started as a new grad in pediatrics. Now that I have had kids, I wish I would have appreciated more what the parents were going through. Its easy to say you are empathetic but when you have children it brings it to a whole new level. At times its can be difficult to do the work as you start feeling the experience more. But dont let that get you down...its important to remember that you have the skills and knowledge to help! It is a privilege to be able to help people no matter the age.