Impact Children’s Health By Becoming A Pediatric Nurse

Medical careers are not just the providence of doctors, but are comprised of, instead, a multidisciplinary team of professionals that work together to provide high standards of care for every patient. For students who are interested in working with patients and their families, nursing is an attractive potential career. Physicians, in today’s environment, are simply overloaded with patients and so nurses pick up the duty of patient and family education, as well as spending more time with people in general. Once you acquire a nursing degree, specialization comes into play and if you want to be a pediatric nurse there are certain steps to follow.

This specialty encompasses patients from birth until late adolescence, so depending on which department you choose to work within you have the possibility of being able to see patients grow through to their adulthood. You can work in pediatric setting with a hospital, medical center, or even private practice.

The kind of nurse you want to be varies on the license that you acquire. Licensed practical nurses have completed a typically one year course and their duties are limited, but it may be the right start for older folks who are mulling over a career change. If you receive an undergraduate degree in this major and follow that with a license exam that allows you to begin practicing, you are known as registered nurses (RN)and are the most well known type of this profession.

RNs can work in a wide variety of areas, but if you crave more responsibility and challenge, it is best to go back to school to attain a master’s degree which can certify you as practitioner. Unlike all other nursing incarnation, being a practitioner allows you to diagnose and prescribe medications for your patients.

Once you decide on training in pediatrics, however, it isn’t just a matter of working in a new department, you must be trained. This is done in-house in a similar fashion to the residencies that physicians participate in, where you will attend lectures and on-the-job training that will familiarize you with the specific issues and struggles inherent in your particular pediatric field.

Sub-specialties are common and so you can work in a number of areas. The NICU, or Newborn Intensive Care Unit, specializes in problems afflicting the newly born and can be an extremely rewarding, but difficult job. There are also positions in oncology, emergency medicine, and family health in general.

This latter position is unique in that you’ll be saying the same patients over successive years as they come in for immunizations and standard check-ups. If you choose the field of pediatrics for your nursing career, it’s as rewarding as anything else under the healthcare umbrella.

By becoming a pediatric nurse you’re going to make a difference in kid’s’s lives. If you’re interested in becoming a licensed practical nurse today, we have some information for you.