Pediatric Nurse
Job Description
A pediatric nurse is one who uses his or her knowledge and skills to take care of sick and injured children. From infancy through the late teen years, pediatric nurses care for the children patients and their families.
Most pediatric nurses complete advanced training specifically in pediatrics. They work closely in collaboration with physicians and other health care professionals to provide the best of care to their patients.
Responsibilities
Pediatric nurses can perform all of the functions that other nurses do: physical examinations, measuring of vital signs, obtaining blood and urine samples and facilitating other diagnostic tests.
Nurses with further advanced training may interpret the results of diagnostic tests to identify diagnoses and develop treatment plans.
Because of the special and specific health care needs of pediatric patients, many parents often prefer that their children be treated by nurses and other health professionals who are specialized in pediatrics.
Children’s bodies are constantly growing and changing, and they react in different ways to injury, to illness and even to common medications.
Since they are infants and children, they get scared easily and cannot always communicate clearly what is wrong or “where it hurts.”
Pediatric nurses are trained in how to talk to children to alleviate their fears and put them at ease. They are proficient in how to ask children questions about their health situation.
This allows a more accurate gathering of complete information to aid in the diagnosis and treatment that is best for the child.
In addition to caring for their patients, pediatric nurses spend a great deal of time educating parents and caregivers about the best way to care for their children and to protect and promote their child’s health.
In the case of children with chronic conditions, such as paralysis or juvenile diabetes, pediatric nurses can design home care plans that will help the family meet the needs of their child’s condition.
Promotion of wellness and health education is a big part of the pediatric nursing field. “Ped” nurses frequently staff community health fairs and visit schools to perform wellness physical exams, to assist with immunizing children and to provide routine developmental health screenings when indicated.
The opportunity to play a vital role in a child’s life, when that child needs help the most, makes pediatric nursing a very special vocation.
Skills
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Communication |
A pediatric nurse must not only convey information effectively, they must be able to interact and communicate with children which takes a certain finesse. They must be able to gather information from patients that might not know how to describe their feelings or symptoms. |
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Organization |
Pediatric nurses have many administrative duties, so they must be organized and maintain to-date records of their patients and keep track of busy schedules. They also need to stay organized to manage their team of nurse assistants. |
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Assessing |
Must be able to determine illness and injury by different methods of exams and inspections since many times their patients are unable to describe their aliments. |
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Compassion |
They must be compassionate and caring since they work with small children and infant, who are susceptible to emotion and easy to effect either positively or negatively. |
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Emotional Stability |
Must be able to cope with the strong realities and emotions that can come with the job. Seeing little children with aliments and injuries can be tough, so you must be too. |
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Patience |
Must be able to keep calm and cool in stressful situations and be able to handle kids and parents that are going through a tough time. |
Working Conditions
The skills of a pediatric nurse bring special comfort to children and their parents. When a child is sick or injured and being treated, it is a stressful time for everyone in the family.
Pediatric nurses may work with their young charges in the following places of employment:
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Doctors’ offices
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Public and private care clinics
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Hospitals
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Inpatient and outpatient surgical centers
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Acute care facilities
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Neonatal units
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Pediatric critical care units
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Pediatric oncology units
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Pediatric burn units
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Pediatric rehabilitation centers
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Public and private schools
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Public health departments
Most pediatric nurses work closely with a physician who is also a specialist in pediatric or family medicine.
The duties of a pediatric nurse are similar to the nursing duties in other departments, although the pediatric nurse may have more direct interaction with the patient’s family.
Salary Outlook
| Estimated Annual Salary | Average Hourly Wage | Positions Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| $66,640.00 | $32.04 | 311,320 |