Please help, I am not too sure how to pursue this career.

[geekegirl]

i am a junior in high school and my baby brother was 8 months ago sent to cincinnati children's to have open heart surgery. after surgery he was sent to the PICU. he had many chest tubes and tubes in general. the nurses there were the nicest and most diligent nurses i have ever met. after experiencing this i have realized thats what i want to become, im just not sure what they are called other than a nurse in the PICU. i dont exactly know how to become one. after graduation i have no idea how to obtain this career. anything would be helpful please and thank you.

[NeoPediRN]

Sounds like you had a life changing experience. :) You'll need to apply to nursing school first and ideally get your Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN). From there you can apply to new grad residency programs all over the country for the PICU, maybe even at Cincinatti!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Umm... we're called "nurses in the PICU". Nothing more special, I'm afraid. Other than that, what SarahBeth said!

Cincinnati Children's is a GREAT place to be if you need heart surgery. Best of health for your brother, geekegirl.

[malexsandra]

It interesting how different life events can relieve some amazing paths that are available to take. I am about to finish nursing school in August and could not think of a better path that I could of chosen. My suggestion is the same as Sarahbeth and applying for a BSN program. I would also suggest working PRN as a nurse tech or patient care tech in a ped hospital so you can get more of an exposure to the pediatric world. I know that in my nursing school are exposure to peds was small compared to adults and working as a nurse tech at Children’s Mercy in Kansas City really gave me more exposure and hopeful a little for preparation to be a nurse in the pediatric world.

[cdiff]

go get it!