You know you are a PEDS nurse when...

[HU_nurse]

*you can do a full set of vitals on a sleeping one years old with just the light shinning from the bathroom without waking them..

*you have at least 3 different techniques for cutting the taste of liquid PO prednisone...

*you realize how vital it is to have all of your tape/flush/tagaderm (etc) prepared BEFORE you start the IV...

*you have ever rolled used the "burrito roll" technique when starting an IV (rolled the kid up in a blanket with only the extremity that you plan to poke exposed...)

*armboards are you best friends...

*while babystitting a friends 4 month old you are reluctant to throw the diaper away and you get the sudden urge to put it on the scale to you can see how much it weighs...

*you have ever had your stethascope slobbered on by a curious 1 year old...

*your conversations with your coworkers begin with: "the parent in room XXX is crazy!"

*you are no longer phased by the sight of xrays with broken tib fibs, and foreign objects in the throat...

KEEP EM GOING!

[MrsGPR]

OOOOOOO!!!! This is really convincing me to pursue pediatric nursing when I graduate!!!!! I can't wait until my peds rotation next semester!!!

Please post more!!!!:heartbeat

[ICRN2008, BSN, RN]

These are great! How about:

Instead of telling the patient that you're getting their BP and temp, you say to the kiddo "Let's give your arm a hug and your armpit a tickle"

You woke up a parent at 4am to get vitals on their sleeping child, who happens to be underneath them on the bed

Or better yet, you managed to get the vitals without waking the parent up (I did this last night! )

You spend half the day trying to keep the 2 year old sibling from running down the hall and coloring on the walls.

You say "Mom is great" or "Watch out for Dad" and you're not talking about your own parents- you're just giving report to the next nurse.

You don't balk when a kid orders pizza and mashed potatoes for breakfast, because at least he's eating!

You find yourself bribing your patients with stickers and Beanie Babies on a regular basis

The cupboard in your unit's kitchen is filled with Spaghetti O's and Kraft Mac N Cheese and the freezer is full of Push-ups

[lauron9]

- you've had to wash your hair and change your scrubs because you bent down to get a diaper out of the drawer and left the 2 month old male patient uncovered

- you've taken a thermometer and flashlight into a room to get a rectal temp on an infant

- you can rattle off at least 10 different names each for urine, stool, and each gender's genitalia

- you've said, over the intercom in a patient's room, "Johnny, this is Santa Clause. If you don't settle down right now and go to sleep, I'm not bringing you any presents for Christmas"

- you've said to the parent of the bratty patient "I'm going to step out and give you a minute. And just know that when the door is closed, I hear nothing"

- you've told another adult, "you have something on your nosey"

[lisab82]

these thread fantastic total agree with the comment, when asked about adult problems , i don't do adults , one of my favourite line.

the program times for cbebbies (uk based kids channel)

manage to do iv antibiotics with out waking the patient even when lying on there iv line

[nyapa, RN]

I am still on rotation in paeds, so I am still learning but:

- I start to play games with babies being held by their mothers/fathers in the street.

- I am becoming extremely clucky

- I am finding that it is allowed / expected as part of the working day to cuddle your babies and walk around with them instead of just taking obs, having a quick chat as you would with an adult pt (actually got congratulated by my senior for doing so!)...awww I love it!

- my mathematics skills have improved out of sight! And so has my dexterity thanks to having to draw up miniscule amounts of IVABs

- I am starting to dig up and sing nursery rhymes from the deep dark recesses of my mind.

-

[pirituba]

I just graduate from nursing schools and passed the NCLEX. I want to be a peds nurse, but I know I have a long way to go. I currently have ADN in nursing and I know it will be difficult to get a job as pediatric nurse with only an ADN! In 2 years will go back to school and get my BSN and hopefull be a nurse practioner one day!

[AdobeRN]

I just graduate from nursing schools and passed the NCLEX. I want to be a peds nurse, but I know I have a long way to go. I currently have ADN in nursing and I know it will be difficult to get a job as pediatric nurse with only an ADN! In 2 years will go back to school and get my BSN and hopefull be a nurse practioner one day!

It is not that difficult to get a pediatric nurse position - look for an internship. I also just graduated and now working on a pediatric floor.