Peds

auburngirl95 · Sep 18, 2009

I for one love Peds. I have a Bachelors in Child Development. When I went to nursing school I knew Peds would be where I ended up. It is a very natural thing for me. Yes, parents can be a pain. But those sweet smiles make it worth it to me.

That being said I never imagined I would be doing pediatric home health. I graduated in May and have been unable to find a hospital. I had one opportunity to take an adult nursing job in the hospital but felt that I would be taking that from someone who likes working with adults, so I declined. I then found the company I now work for. I work with what I say are special needs kids. Most have cerebral palsy, are on trachs, vents, and have g-tubes. Some can communicate with you and some can't. Some were born that way and some are the results of near drownings or car accidents. But I find that as I talk to them and take care of them my heart is happy. I figured I would be doing acute hospital care out of school. But I think where God has placed me is where I am meant to be. Not saying it is a piece of cake. But right now I would not change it for anything.

Good luck with your schooling and moving into peds.

vamedic4, EMT-P · Sep 18, 2009

mindlor,

It's admirable that you are thinking about a career in pediatrics. I have been an EMT for 22 years and a paramedic for 16 and I can tell you that working in pediatrics is, by far, the most rewarding thing I've ever done. The pros? You get to work on children, which to some may be harder than working with adults..perhaps because you feel less "comfortable". The more experience you get, the more confident you will become and that will enable you to better care for the sickest and smallest of patients.

The cons? Of course, there are going to be kids who don't make it no matter how valiantly we try to save them, I have worked on a heme/onc floor a lot in the past 2 years and you really do get attached to your patient. When they earn their wings...it's very difficult. The same is true of my cardiac children...you get attached to these patients, you get to know the families, and it's incredibly difficult when they pass away.

There are also issues with non compliant parents, we see this a lot too. They'll argue with doctors, argue with nurses, just trying to maintain some control over something concerning their child. Some of their complaints are completely justified, and some are not. The truly non compliant ones don't give their kids the meds, don't refill them, aren't involved in the lives of their children much at all it seems until something goes wrong. Then they're only there to drop them at the ER or wait just long enough to see them admitted.

It's hard work, but seeing a 5 year old who was septic and coded 4 weeks ago get up and be discharged is hella rewarding. The parents never forget, either, and that does a lot to give you peace of mind.

Best of luck in your decision.

vamedic4

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Sep 18, 2009

Peds is a fabulous specialty. I worked in a pedi hospital where there were many male nurses and were great co-workers. Go for it.

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2009

Pediatrics are my favorite surgical population, one of the hardest because you have a very scared patient AND family...but they get well so quickly and they don't have any of the psychosocial issues adults have.

They are awesome.

nursepotter05, RN · Sep 18, 2009

I worked in a pediatric emergency room for 5 years. i love peds. i do think it takes a special person to work peds. i will say it takes more than liking children. you have to be able to cope with doing procedures, ect that hurts them and realizing that the child doesn't understand why, like an adult would. you also have to be able to cope with children dieing, which i think is one of the hardest parts of peds nursing. i think dealing with the parents is the most difficult aspect of peds nursing. with adults, you can ask family to step out most of the time. i found that you need to be friendly and provide info to the parents, especially mom, because you put the parents @ ease and win them over, you have won the child over. i take my hat off to you for considering oncology. i chose the er because you don't get the opportunity to get attached to families like you would in a unit like oncology. i wish you luck with school and i hope you get to do pediatric nursing. it is certainly a rewarding career!

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Sep 18, 2009

I work on an adolescent floor in a pediatric hospital and I love it. You are correct that one of the more difficult aspects of the job is dealing with non-compliant parents (or in my young adult population, non-compliant patients). It is also hard when you have patients facing death and dying well before "their time." That being said, I love the variety I see in peds, I have taken care of all age groups. I also love the uniqueness of illness I see, some of the disease seen in the pediatric population simply don't exist in the adult world due to short lifespan. When you get closer to trying to find a job as a nurse, I would suggest you spend some time shadowing on a peds floor.

Good Luck! :redpinkhe

mindlor · Sep 19, 2009

THanks for all the replies :)

From what I am reading, there are many more positives than negatives.

:)

Itshamrtym · Sep 19, 2009

THanks for all the replies :)
From what I am reading, there are many more positives than negatives.
:)

:yeah: Absolutely!!!!! I have done peds private duty home care for 12 years and it is fabulous. I also did school nursing that was also very satisfying. Go to the Oncology section of allnurses. There are a lot of threads their for you to read also.

It seems that peds onc. nurses love their jobs. You have been given some great advice here..... GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!! We need you....:loveya:

AlabamaBelle · Sep 20, 2009

I do Peds Intensive Care. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do. We get to see so many different things, our patients have a great age range - keeps you on your toes.

As vamedic said, watching that sick, septic child you just knew wasn't going to make it come back in later laughing and playing - well, there's just nothing like it.

You will have non-compliant parents and non-compliant kids (older). You will have overly vigilant, over the top parents and just plain off the charts off their rockers parents. But you're always there for the kids.

The RNs who do Peds Heme/Onc are fabulous and they have quite a passion for this area.

Go for your dream, your passion.

mindlor · Sep 20, 2009

Thanks guys :)

saintplatypus · Sep 20, 2009

I worked in a long term care facility for peds with physical and mental disabilities. Was best 5 years of nursing I have experienced in my 13 yrs of nursing. Pros... there are so many they are hard to list. But I used to tell hubby I was so lucky to be able to go to work and hold babies if I wanted to. Cons... well yes non-compliant parents or guardians to an extent, but its the families who never ever come in or call or seem to give a rats patootie one way or the other about these kids that rouse anger in me.

Be prepared to get attached. And you will. And when the day comes they go home, get transferred, or die your heart will break.

But you will find many rewards too as you see young ones survive their challenges, exceed expectations, and go home to their folks as they should rightly do.

Good Luck