5 replies to this topic

[stephanie]

Hello,
my name is Stephanie and I'm very interested on starting a career in nursing. I'm 23, married to a sailor, i'm a marine, have on son(2yrs old). I get out a little over a year and I made the decision that I really want to be a nurse. I just need a little direction on what exactly the kind of nurse i want to be. I would like to be a pediatric nurse or midwife but was also told that I would have to deal with alot of small children possibly dying under my care if I was to do that. I would like to hear from an experienced nurse about their own experience and some advice.
Thanks,
Stephanie

[Lulu]

i dont think you have to deal with 'alot of small children possibly dying' but you will happen... obviously if you going into oncology or terminal caen it will be a lot but in general wards then it wont be a daily occurance..... in midwifery some babies do die but again this is not common.

but whatever area you going to there is a chance of caring for people who will die.... more likely in elderly care though than childrens nursing.

just wondering if the person who told you will experience a lot of deaths works in paeditrics or midwifery?

personally i think follow your heart and even when patients die we are still allowed to be sad and cry.... shows you are human with feelings after all.

good luck with your decision

[NawlinsGirl]

Hi Stephanie,

Welcome to Nursechat. I read your post and was wondering what area that person worked in that told you that. I dont think if you worked in general pediatrics you would have to deal with "alot of kids dying" but Im sure you will experience that at some point. Personally , I think if you went into a more specialized area like neonatal Icu or oncology then you would experience that more frequently. It really takes a special person to work in that area. My hats off to them.

I can tell you this, Nursing is a very rewarding profession. I've enjoyed it for the past 14 yrs and i wouldnt change it for anything. Good luck with your decision and i hope you enjoy the site and find it useful.

Nawlinsgirl

[stephanie]

Thank you for your thoughts. I din't mean to sound so ignorant about 'small children dying'. I know that will be apart of this kind of job, both the youth and elderly. I should have been more specific. What I meant was the person I was referring to had said a nurse who works with children icu usually is a person who can relate to what parents are going thru. But that is only one persons opinion. Having absolutely no experience in any kind of health care except for the caring of my family, I felt I needed to ask for more opinions from people who provide their care.

[rottmommie]

If a nurse intends to be a pediatric nurse, you can always do that in a general pediatric unit, or pediatric home health care.
i was told by my manager once, the goal of the pediatric health nurse is to work yourself out of a job. meaning the kid gets so much better after years of diligent nursing and proper care, that they no longer need you.
That is a loss in itself, it is like losing a child, but better that way than the other way.

PS not ONE of my ped priv duty patients died on me, and they are still alive today. One of them no longer requires nursing care at all.
She wants to be a nurse when she grows up.

[lberghood]

Hi Stephanie
Have to agree with the others. I worked in pediatrics for 11 years and dealt with very few deaths. I started out in a hospital where the patients came from all over the world and received free othopedic and spinal cord injury care. I absolutely loved it and it was just the right pace for a new nurse to gain confidence and hone their skills. Not one patient died during my 3 1/2 years there and probably hasn't since( would be a very rare occurence)
One of the most important things to realize in pediatrics is that you are not just nursing the child but the whole family. The more difficult aspects of this include working with children who have been abused and/or neglected and dealing with parents who have very poor parenting and coping skills. While this is never easy you do become more skilled at it with time and experience. The fact that you are a parent also can help you to be more supportive and understanding in meeting the needs of your patient's parents. Dealing with families can be difficult in all areas of nursing but in this specialty family interactions are more frequent and neccesary. This can also be a rewarding area.
I learned the most when I worked at a children's hospital that dealt only with children and served all of their medical needs. I "floated" throughout the entire hospital and got to work on the med/surg floors, the specialty floors(oncolgy, transplant, cardiac, renal, etc) the critical care areas(nicu, icu, step-down, ccu, burn unit, er) and also filled in in the clinics. This was a teaching hospital so there were plenty of people who were learning and plenty of people to learn from and plenty of educational opportunities. I also did home health and got to see a whole different side of nursing which helped me to better treat the "whole person" or better yet the "whole family" I would definitely encourage you to follow your dreams. Pediatric nursing is an extremely rewarding career and it does take a special person and you very well may be that special person. You may also find out during your nursing education that it is not the specialty for you and may find yourself drawn to another type of nursing. That is okay also. The wonderful thing about nursing is you can always find a different type of area to work in if you are not suited to the one you are in. Any nurse has a lot to learn as a new nurse and noone can be expected to know how they are going to respond to difficult issues such as death and dying. Don't let fear of this hold you back. My wish for you is that when the time comes for you to deal with these difficult issues you will be met with caring and support from seasoned professionals and/or instructors. Good luck to you in whatever you choose, please consider nursing as we really need nurses and if there is anything i can do to help you in your progress please let me know