Pediatric Nursing
Pediatric nursing, or child health nursing, focuses on the health and treatment of sick children, and seeks to provide an overall basis for their healing and well-being. A pediatric registered nurse can seek employment in a children’s ward at a hospital, or at a pediatrician’s office. The focus on healing and overall health in pediatric nursing is what distinguishes this field from pediatrics, which is more concerned with the prevention and treatment of disease.
Depending on the country, a pediatric registered nurse can seek employment in any hospital or pediatric care center after obtaining registration. The USA has two streams of accreditation whereby one can become a pediatric registered nurse, and thereby enter the field of pediatric nursing. One is to take the NCLEX, or National Council Licensure Examination, which makes one a registered nurse (or RN). These examinations are held all over the USA, and contain modules on recognizing illness, determining dosage, pharmacological methodologies and preventing infection in wards, among others.
It is after this examination that one can specialize as a pediatric registered nurse. To step into pediatric nursing after gaining RN status is a matter of job experience, and of gaining further credentials and qualifications. For instance, a Masters in Nursing, with an emphasis on pediatric nursing and similar fields, is an excellent step forward. While it is not obligatory to have these degrees, it does help a great deal – but, in the final analysis, no degree will be able to compete with having job experience at a pediatric care center or a children’s hospital.
I like kids but I don’t think I want to work with them all day…no no! It’s not that serious.
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