Nurses nowadays get into certification program or specialization in specialty areas such as cardiovascular, renal, pulmonary, mental health, maternal and child, infectious diseases, orthopaedic and rehabilitation, trauma and emergency, operating room, anesthesia care, pediatric, among others. This is a way to enhance the competencies of the country’s nurses who play vital roles in the attainment quality of primary healthcare for the benefit of the patients.
Among these are the pediatric nurses who play an important role in giving nursing care to children. Pediatric nurses work in the department of pediatrics of a hospital or health care facility. Some of the duties and responsibilities of pediatric nurses are:
- perform diagnostic tests and provide proper medication and treatment, forms the basis of the job of a pediatric nurse;
- convince and communicate with children in a friendly way about the necessary treatment;
- measure the blood pressure, body temperature, heartbeat rate, collecting urine samples of the patient, on a regular basis;
- monitor the patient’s progress and reporting the same to the pediatrician;
- develop patient care plans with the help of other members of the health care team;
- and communicate with the child’s parents and keeping them updated on the progress, complications and providing tips on caring for their child’s health.
Take note that job description depends upon the area of specialization. For example, pediatric nurses who have specialized in emergency services, their duties would slightly differ from the regular pediatric nurses.
It needs a proper training and education to become a pediatric nurse. One has to first become a registered nurse! (of course). You can opt for a bachelor’s degree in nursing, which broadens your career path or an associate degree program or a diploma course in nursing. Then, once you complete your formal education in nursing, you need to take and pass the NCLEX-RN examination, which will earn you the Registered Nurse (RN) certification. By then, you can start working as a nurse in the pediatrics department of any hospital and after one year, apply for the certification of pediatric nurse.
This also involves the successful completion of the Certified Pediatric Nurse examination, governed and under by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board. However, you may choose to specialize in some areas of pediatric nursing after getting certified as a pediatric nurse. For you to earn the specialization certification, you need to complete the examination and training program held by the concerned board or authority.
With this, you must have got an idea of the pediatric nurse job description and educational requirements. The job of a pediatric nurse is very challenging because one has to deal with infants and children, which is very significant in a country’s healthcare system.
