Thinking about a career in pediatric nursing?
Pediatric nursing can be an exceptionally rewarding, fulfilling, and enriching career path. However, roles within this career path can offer some unique challenges and frustrations that you may not experience in others. As with all jobs (especially nursing jobs), pediatric nursing roles will have their own pros and cons.
So, which are the core reasons why you should choose pediatric nursing? And why should you consider avoiding the profession altogether? Let’s look at the five reasons to choose pediatric nursing and three reasons why you shouldn’t.
1. You Get to Work With Kids
For some nurses, this is the biggest and maybe even the only “why” you need: Getting to work with children is the best nursing can get.
Some people adore working with children. They find infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents funny, endearing, and bright. They may love the quirks that children can bring to the day, and they know that their job is meaningful, respected, and crucial to the well-being of their patients.
Pediatric nursing is important, whether in a pediatrician’s office or a hospital. If you love working with children, even on their bad days, this is a significant pro that you shouldn’t overlook.
2. Solid Job Security
Pediatric nurses are in demand—and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
In 2019, the Journal of Pediatric Health Care published a paper estimating that there would be a “critical” shortage of pediatric nurse practitioners in the following years. This shortage may be partially due to fewer nurses pursuing pediatrics as a specialty in general, even at the registered nurse (RN) level. There have also been increases in both population growth and child-related medical issues following the coronavirus pandemic.
Pediatric nursing requires a unique skill set, making your experience more valuable, which can mean more job security (and potentially a higher salary) than some other jobs for registered nurses.
3. Great Pay
We mentioned above that pediatric nurses may receive higher salaries than registered nurses in other specialties. Pediatric registered nurses make an average salary of $94,230, or around $37 per hour. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for registered nurses is $82,750 annually.
Additional education, certifications, and licensure can increase your pay potential. You can also earn more by working in specialty departments like the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
4. Knowing You’re Making a Difference
We know that our children are the world’s future, and taking care of them is a privilege. They’re innocent and need protection, and you can step in and give them the care they need.
A great pediatric nurse can soothe anxiety, catch worrying symptoms early, and help create a safe environment where children can get the medical care they need. You can ensure that children are cared for while educating parents on how to best care for their children.
Good experiences with pediatric medicine can shape a child’s entire perspective on nurses, doctors, and general healthcare as they age. You can make sure things start on the right foot.
5. Flexibility in Job Opportunities
If you know you love working with children but worry about stagnating your career, pediatric nursing is a great option to consider. There’s so much flexibility in pediatric nursing and a diversity of different types of work you can choose from.
You can work in a doctor’s office, a school, or different types of healthcare facilities. The variety of job roles allows you flexibility in choosing what type of work-life balance you want and what kind of work you’d like to do, especially since there are so many unique subspecialties to consider.
3 Reasons Why Not to Choose Pediatric Nursing
If you’re on the fence when considering pediatric nursing, there are some downsides that you’ll want to consider. There are three significant reasons why you should rethink this specialty if these aspects concern you.
1. You Work with Kids
You may love kids but never want to work with them as a nurse.
Young children may be less-than-cooperative regarding any kind of medical intervention, even if it’s something as simple as asking them to hold still so you can get their vitals. They may be stressed, prone to meltdowns, and even try to hide when it’s time to get a vaccine.
And the reality is that while you may get the absolute best parts of children working as a pediatric nurse, you’ll also get the worst parts of children.
2. You Have to Manage Children & Their Parents
Managing children can be challenging enough; working with their parents can sometimes feel impossible.
You may find yourself dealing with overprotective parents or downright unreasonable parents. It’s not uncommon for nurses to face parents who don’t want to give their children essential vaccinations, for example. It can be frustrating when an adult chooses not to receive a vaccination for themselves, but it’s often infuriating when they fail to protect their children from preventable illnesses.
Parents may also be anxious, overwhelmed, and incredibly demanding; this is one of the biggest challenges of pediatric nursing. Not everyone wants to tackle dealing with parents, no matter how much they love working with children.
3. Bad News Can Feel Particularly Bad
One of the most challenging parts of pediatric nursing is when the news isn’t good. Bad news feels particularly tragic when it’s happening to a precocious toddler or a beaming ten-year-old who brought you a thank you card. However, hard news for young patients hits home differently, and it can sometimes take a bigger emotional hit on nurses.
