W, RN

I think it's a little crazy. If you have zero science background, the pre-reqs alone can take 2 years, and then definitely another 2 years of nursing school. And in my experience, people hiring really don't care about what kind of life experience you have had with kids. They just want the professional experience and the nursing license. You could probably volunteer in various aspects at a peds hospital and get a lot of fulfillment! I would keep the high paying job. All that being said, if you truly want to do it, go for it. Just know that it's going to take a lot longer than you think and it's not all that easy to just hop into a good job. Also, those estimates of how much they pay in your area are inflated, in my opinion.

I got my job in a peds office by just walking in with my resume and giving it to them. They happened to be hiring at the time. It was NOT for me, but it seemed pretty easy to get the job.

Can you tell me more about what you like about telephone triage? I also do phone triage but I really don't enjoy it at all. I'm trying to find the positives and stay positive myself!

In my office, we would give those all in the deltoid. For an 11 year old, as long as they are an inch or greater apart, it should be fine. They will have more room to work with than you think.

Thank you for the supportive words! Honestly, it is not a bad environment at all. All the other nurses are really nice and always happy to help me out, but I don't want them secretly doubting me as a competent peer. I guess it's just a paranoia. I know it will take time, it's just some days feel worse than others and you need to vent. You are all so nice to pick me back up.

Yes, all I've been doing is going home to read up on things AFTER the fact. I guess it's good for next time, but it feels like too little too late. I have no problem with continued learning, I just don't want my peers to look down on me.

I work in a peds office. Parents are constantly asking me questions all day long about their kids. I don't always have the answers (in fact, many times I don't!) and I end up asking one of the other nurses who has been there longer the questions. I feel like the obvious answer is that I will learn more with time. But I'm frustrated! Where can I learn all these tricks and secrets? I try to learn from them, but it just makes me feel stupid that I didn't know that myself. Even though I learned a lot in school, it seems like there is still so much that I don't know. I want to be an asset to my practice and not have to go running to someone else all the time. For instance, today a parent asked me why their child was arching their back a lot. The only time I had heard of a child doing this a lot was in cases of meningitis, which I didn't suspect the child had, but wanted to make sure it was nothing serious. I asked another nurse and come to find out that it's common with GERD. I wish I had known that in the first place but I've never heard of that, even though it's fairly common. Is this a normal feeling with new nurses?

I just wanted to update and say that I took the job YAY! I love all the little kiddos.

Yes, I agree, I'm anxious to get started anywhere I can really. I just hope I'm not making a poor career move.

I personally enjoy the environment more and gave an honest answer. Although I think a hospital would give me a more well-rounded experience, I want to get my foot in wherever I can! Is it just unheard of that a new graduate would want to start in an office rather than on the floor? Is my application there a bad idea?

Hi, I am new here. I have had my license for about 3 months. I know we have all been applying to jobs like crazy and not getting many opportunities back. My question is, should we be happy to take anything we can get? Or hold out for that dream position? I have an interview for a physician's office. While I would LOVE to do it, it is a bit farther from home than I would like, and I worry about taking less pay than I would in a hospital. On the other hand, it's a job! And I would really like one of those right now. So what do you think? Would you be willing to take less money than you could potentially get elsewhere just to have the job?