specialties?

[jagalu100305]

Curious what different specialties are on this forum? I applied at the biggest/best Children's Hospital in my city (maybe even state)--it can be difficult to get your foot in the door. I got an interview for a renal unit and pulmonary unit--both sound very interesting but I think eventually I would love to transfer to PICU or pedi oncology. Any thoughts on any of these specialties?? I am coming from a NICU and school nursing background.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

The pediatric med-surg subspecialties are all lumped together under this heading. There's a moderate amount of activity, although not enough to warrant a separate forum for any one specific category, and posters have a range of experiences. We have a very active PICU forum (https://allnurses.com/picu-nursing-pediatric/) as well as a separate NICU forum. If you think PICU might be for you, gaining experience on either of the units you're interviewing for would be useful and possibly set you apart from the pack. Most pediatric ICU patients have respiratory issues and many may also develop significant renal dysfunction. Some PICUs will hire new grads and for some new grads it works out perfectly well, but for others there's a lot of struggle with juggling a large number of priorities. Even nurses with a good base of experience may find the transition difficult. It never hurts to work your way into PICU. Pedi oncology is an exacting and exhausting field. Takes a very special breed of people. You know yourself. Gathering information is a good first step. Best wishes.