What is pediatric nursing? What does it involve?

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Hi,

I was wondering if someone could explain what this feild is about. I know it has to do with children but when you enter pediatrics what will you be doing? What type of things is the nurse doing for the children? Are the children sick or checkups? Is this the area where you take care of the babies after they are delivered? Please let me know what title a nurse is when she is working with the babies after birth. How long does it take for schooling for this? How do I get into a CNA class in the area of cleveland ohio? I know there are a lot of questions but I am very serious about getting into this type of work and if there is anyone who can help me out by answering these questions, please do so.

Thank you!

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Specializes in Pediatrics Only.
hi,

i was wondering if someone could explain what this feild is about. i know it has to do with children but when you enter pediatrics what will you be doing?

pediatric nursing is about caring for sick children during the times they are in the hospital. you can also do pediatric home health, or private duty, where you take care of children who are stable enough to be discharged, but still have lots of special needs. in a hospital you do as a nurse does, take care of the patient, give meds, vital signs, iv's, making the patient feel better, surgeries, etc.

are the children sick or checkups?

in the hospital, they are always sick kids. you can work in a doctors office and then you would be doing check ups, shots, and assisiting the doctors.

is this the area where you take care of the babies after they are delivered?

no, this is ob which deals with mother/baby and baby right after delivery.

pediatrics deals strickly with children.

there is also newborn nursery, where the healthy newborns go.

there is also nicu (neonatal icu) where the teeny tiny itty bitty babies(thats what i always call them) go. these are the premature babies, sick babies, and sometimes baby who are in drug withdrawal b/c their mother took something while pregnant. neonatal is rewarding, but can also have its downfalls as does any area of nursing.

please let me know what title a nurse is when she is working with the babies after birth. how long does it take for schooling for this?

not sure what you mean by title, you'd be a labor and delivery nurse, or a nurse specific to the field you are in.

i'd recommend getting your rn. there is lpn which takes 2 years of schooling but still work under a rn.

for your rn, there is adn which is about 2 years of school, or bsn, which is 4 years of schooling. you need to have your bsn if you wanted to pursue a higher nursing education.

how do i get into a cna class in the area of cleveland ohio?

not sure on this one, but its a great idea to get your foot in the door to see what nursing is about. there are so many different areas of nursing that you can go into, that surely one will suit you.

i know there are a lot of questions but i am very serious about getting into this type of work and if there is anyone who can help me out by answering these questions, please do so.

thank you!

hope this helped.

meghan :nurse:

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ahhhhhhhhh, Meghan.........

That was nice of you to so thoroughly answer all her questions.

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Specializes in Pediatrics Only.

Why thank you nursemelani - I tried my best. :)

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Thank you for your reply. I still have a question though. What I meant by title is, what is that nurse called working with healthy babies after their delivery? I wasn't sure if it was neonatal nurse or something else. Everything else was answered very well. I guess that I will have to check into nursing homes for that type of class. I hear that is the real test to find out if nursing is what you really want to do. But thank you for all your help and if there is anything else you find out about, please let me know. How long is schoolong for pediatrics nurse? I wasn't sure if you answered that. Thanks again!!!

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The school for a nurse, regardless of specialty, is the same - 2 years for ADN/ASN (after prerequisites), 4 years for BSN (including prerequisites). I also recommend you get your RN, as you will have more options (both ADN/ASN and BSN are RN degrees). You specialize after you have your license, usually through completing an orientation period offered by your employer in the specialty area for which you are hired.

As far as job title, technically the position you speak of would be a neonatal nurse, BUT those positions have been almost completely phased out. If you want to work with healthy newborns only, you will most likely also need to care for postpartum moms in a couplet care/mother-baby unit. Healthy newborn nurseries with their own staff of nurses are, for the most part, a thing of the past. There are still some out there, but they are disappearing quickly in favor of the babies rooming in with their moms and the nurses caring for both mom and baby, in which case the title would be postpartum nurse or mother-baby nurse, rather than neonatal nurse.

I hope that made sense.

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I am also wanting to be a pediatric nurse but I want to work in a doctors office. would a 2 year degree be good for that? Is that what a BSN is?

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