EmIly Grace

I have decided to make the switch to outpatient/ clinic pediatric nursing. I am really excited as the hours and pay exceeded what I was expecting to get. Not to mention holidays off. I have experience in adult med surge and mom- baby/ some NICU training. While I understand this role will be less hands on than working bedside, I would really like some tips to make me excel at my job. I have no clinical experience working with kids other than newborns or NICU babies. For those with kids, or those who've worked with kids, what is something a nurse has done to make doctors visits a little less stressful for your kids? What are some tips and tricks for when I am meeting these parents and kids? What can I do to make the overall experience better, especially when my patient is in a stressful situation (sick, vaccines, etc.) Does anyone know of any references I could use in my current free time to make me a better pediatric nurse? Thanks in advance!

Hi all! So I am a relatively new nurse- started on a med surge floor around five months ago. While I love the management on my floor and take a lot of pride in the hospital that I work at, I’ve always known Med Surge wasn’t for me. I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do after graduating so I figured starting out here would be a good idea. There are a lot of days where I absolutely dread going into work and I can’t say I’ve ever felt “excited” or even happy to go in. A month or so ago I bought a Postpartum Nursing book and began studying it to see if the topic interested me. On a day where I felt particularly down about my job I applied to a mother baby unit at another hospital. I didn’t think I would even be considered considering my lack of experience but I have an interview next week. While I haven’t even been offered the job yet clearly I’m very torn if this is a good idea. I know I shouldn’t pay attention to posts like this but on a nursing Instagram I recently saw a bunch of posts saying “mother baby is where nurses go to die.” I’ve always been interested in L and D and postpartum and plan to continue my education and get my masters and do some work either with women’s health or public health. I’m nervous working on this unit would box me in and cause me to lose skills/ not develop further nursing skills. But I’ve always had a passion for education and prevention and would love to work on a unit I feel more passionate about and then perhaps be more involved in the unit. Another thing is this hospital is not nearly as established as the hospital I currently work at. Also I feel guilty leaving my job after only a few months there. I understand that’s a lot of money wasted on my orientation. I just want to be happy with my work and do something I’m more passionate about but I’m worried about making the wrong move. Clearly I am going back and forth in the topic. opinions anyone? thanks in advance!