Children's nursing

A graduate career as a children's nurse involves working with children who have relatively minor conditions right through to those who have serious, chronic and/or life threatening conditions. With the right skills and progression it can also involve managing people and resources plus - potentially - research and setting up projects. The work is as much about providing reassurance to the child’s family as it is about providing care for the child. In most cases a great deal of the care is provided by the family and the nurse’s role is to work with the family to teach, build confidence and support them in looking after their child. This is particularly important if the child has a lifelong condition, as the best place for a child to be is in their own home leading as normal a life as possible.

Starting out after graduation

The broad spectrum of roles and career opportunities available in this branch of nursing range from acute hospital care and management, to community care, nursing education, health promotion and specialist nursing roles such as clinical nurse specialist, school nurse and advanced practitioner. There are several specialist children’s hospitals in the country and most general acute trusts will also have at least one children’s ward. Children’s nurses also work in A&E and in child and adolescent mental health services. A newly qualified nurse would initially be expected to consolidate their learning by taking responsibility for the care of a group of patients and then take on more complex roles.

Fancy a job as a children's nurse? Here are the skills you'll require

Children’s nurses need to be highly observant and flexible problem solvers who recognise when a child is becoming very sick very quickly. They need to be prepared to act as the child’s advocate whenever and wherever necessary. Good communication and interpersonal skills are essential but children’s nurses also need to be emotionally resilient.