Pre-Nursing student wanting to go into Pediatric....Is it bad to go right into Pedis?

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Like I said in the title I am a pre-nursing student and know that I want to work with children, and really do not want to get into adult care. With this being said is it bad to go straight into pediatrics' or should I still try to get some med/sug experience first. I eventually want to become a PNP. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you all so much.

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Specializes in PNP, CDE, Integrative Pain Management.

There is no reason why you can't go straight into peds if you know that is where your heart is! Of course your nursing school education will expose you to mostly adult experiences through clinicals, but you can still work in peds right away. Is there a pediatric hospital in your area? You might consider working part time as a care assistant - you will get great experience with patients, and you will see up close exactly what nursing is like in pediatrics.

I was positive that I wanted adult ICU when I was in nursing school...but ended up taking my first RN position in a pediatric hospital on a med/surg unit. I fell in love with peds and would never go back to adult care! Transferred to a specialty section (endocrine/diabetes), went on for my master's and PNP, and love every minute.

Stay open to your experiences/options during school, but go with your heart when its time to get a job!

Best of luck on your adventures ahead.

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Thank you so much for your advice. There is a childrens hospital in the city that I am going to be moving to and I was going to look at volunteering there while I was taking a year off of school. :) Is there any way that you can request to do clinicals with children while in school?

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I went from graduation into pedi's immediately. I picked my hospital because it had a pedi's only ER (which I work in) and they were very educational based. They have a great educational department and believe that a good educated nurse is the best. They insist on all their nurse get further pedi education and this is even more so for the ER nurses. In one year I will have my PALS, PCCC (pedi critical care course), ENCC (emergency nurse critical care), TNCC (trauma nurse cirtical care), and they will pay for my CPN, CPEN, and CEN when I am ready. The doctors in our ER are also all teaching docs, so they explain every procedure and answer any and all questions. I enjoy going to work every night (yes I requested nights, because there is more action). I still feel privilaged to work every day.

I love pedi's

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