sus_rn

Hi jujubee, Specializing in Pediatrics can be very rewarding and very difficult at the same time. I agree with rck213 on almost all points (except those specific to where you are employed). Each specialty has specific skills that you develop once you are into that field. With Pediatrics, ALL of your assessment skills need to be used, and they have to be specific for each childs age. For example, things as simple as vital signs vary greatly with every child. And drug dosages..not standard with kids. When a young child cannot tell you what is wrong..you must figure it out via assessments that include everything. That includes the entire family as well. You have to monitor and observe the patients very frequently because their status changes in a matter of minutes, even in the non-PICU settings. There is a world of difference between adult and pediatric illnesses, diseases and nursing. I too, did several years of adult med-surg prior to my 13 yrs pediatric experience. In my opinion, I feel that this enabled me to realize the differences between adults and peds and develop a good organizational skills base which is definitely needed. There is a nursing shortage in peds, as in most all nursing areas. Finding a job should not be a problem. Good luck to ya! :)

Hi, I'm new to these boards and couldn't resist puttin' my two shiny cents in! Here are my answers: 1. RN 2. 15 years. 3. North East 4. no, I think we all are worth more! 5. yes (opted out of health coverage) 6. yes and no. I work part-time. Would like more but this is one way I can have some control over my life. 7. yes 8. yes, for the most part. 9. yes, recently expanded. 10. yes, even after some of the worst times in my life, yes. 11. yes 12. no breaks. 13. rotate 3 shifts. 14. all (the dept. I work for now is closed most holidays) 15. for 16. tough question, I'd have to know all the details of the specific issues, union views, hospital views, etc. before I would give a blanket answer yes or no.

We limit our IV attempts to two per RN. Usually only two nurses make an attempt. After that we ask someone from the PICU, transport team, or the ER. If the patient is a newborn or infant and we have difficulty, we also ask assistance from our NICU staff. Our policy states that IV sites are to be changed every 3 days unless it has to be changed sooner (ie. infiltration, falls out, etc.) or if the patient is a known 'difficult IV access' the line can stay in longer as long as it's closely observed as per policy. We also change our tubing every 72 hours, except for HAL/IL tubing which is changed every 24 hours. Hope this helps.