Questions for Pediatric Nurses

[Erica K]

I am currently doing a research project on Pediatric Nurses and I am having trouble finding answes to some of my questions. Could you please help answer any of these. Some things I need to know is the schooling requiered, salary, and how this job affects your emotions. Thank you.

[suzanne4, RN]

The schooling isn't any different than that required to work in other areas of the hospital. The US requires "generalist" training, not "specialist" such as in the UK and Australia.

Salary is the same in a hospital, usually regardless of which area that you are working in. It goes more on certifications and years experience. But there can be a great viariance in salaries between different cities and states.

Emotions play a big part in working a pedicatrics unit. Especially when you lose a patient that you know hasn't had a chance to live and enjoy life yet. It can be hard on the nurse, as well as the entire staff. Debriefing plays a big part in this................

Hope that this help...............

[jeepgirl, LPN, NP]

Salary is the same as the rest of the payscale for the rest of the hospital. Usually, there are no bonuses or anything as it is sort of a hard area to break into.

I have my ADN and I work on a general peds unit. There are some BSN nurses, however there aren't many. I don't know of anyone who is certified. I am sure that certification helps if you want to get in where competition is especially rough.

emotions play a lot on the peds unit. you're not just caring for the kid... you're caring for the parents, grandparents, etc. people are especially anxious when a child is sick. you have to learn to be calm. this can take awhile to accomplish as a new nurse!