With the medical centers striving to give their youngest patients from infancy to the teenage years, the best possible care imaginable, the role of pediatric nurses became more significant than ever. In America alone, the need for pediatric nurses to administer critical care has been clearly mandated.

In this article we will explore the roles and responsibilities of a pediatric health nurse in providing support and comfort and shaping the health of child health.

Who is a Pediatric Nurse

A paediatric nurse or a children’s nurse is a registered neonatal nurse with a speciality in delivering care and care to infants, young children and adolescents. Paediatric nurses have a different job compared to adult nurses because the paediatric clients’ needs are complicated. 

Paediatric nurses will have a range of duties in their role and will work in collaboration with their team, involving the child’s family in the decisions that are made about the care to get the best outcome for their child.

Roles of a Pediatric Health Nurse

Pediatric nurses usually operate under a multidisciplinary setup with other healthcare workers to administer the best medical services to children. They play a crucial role in the health development of children by attending them and providing care and comfort while their ongoing treatment.

They can give childhood vaccinations or immunizations and keep children up to date with their vaccination schedule. Besides, a pediatric nurse recommends the children and families so that they can inform them about their health and treatment phases.

A pediatric nurse can be engaged in teaching and administration of children’s health to the community or other heath professionals. They can also assist in carrying out research on clinical aspects of health conditions that are commonly encountered in children and the related treatment processes. Some pediatric nurses also prefer specializing in a specific branch of children’s health, for example, anesthetics, oncology, or neurology.

Skills Pediatric Nurses Require

To succeed in their career, pediatric nurses need to possess a special skill set that enables them to deliver quality service to their young patients and their families.

Pediatric nursing includes a wide range of activities with an emphasis on delivering quality services to infants, children, and adolescents. Day-to-day pediatric nursing responsibilities are specialized and involve expertise and skills necessary to cater to the specific requirements of young patients.

1. Receptive skills

The nature of the job requires that flexibility. Position of a Pediatric nurse demands receptive skills. The physical and emotional demands of the patients under your care constantly change and evolve, and you must remain receptive and open to allow yourself to cater to their needs.

2. Best communication skills

While delivering care to paediatric clients, open communication is required in an attempt to deliver the care delivered to suit the individual’s specific needs. Communication can be verbal or nonverbal, and mastering both is essential in an attempt to excel in a nursing career.

3. Resilience

This is one of the major skills in every nursing profession. Resilient child nurses will be able to handle tough and challenging situations at ease and promptly adjust to every situation without putting their feelings into question.

4. Evaluating Physical, Emotional, and Developmental Needs

Pediatric nurses assess the physical, emotional, and growth needs of pediatric patients. They educate patients and families regarding their illnesses, treatment plan, and how the illnesses can be managed at home.

This includes:

Administering medications, treatments, and therapies for children’s illnesses.

• Utilizing extensive knowledge of growth and development issues in managing pediatric pain.
• Monitoring responses to interventions closely and adjusting care plans accordingly.

5. Emotional Support

Nurses offer psychosocial support to child patients and their relatives like:

• Comforting fearful and crying children on hospital entry and procedures.
• Relieving tension and stress on behalf of a child’s illness.
• Establishing trust and rapport with patients and caregivers.
• Utilizing Child-friendly Communication Methods

6. Coordinating Collaborative Care

Duties are:

• Talking plainly, kneeling at patients’ level.
• Scheduling plays as a part of their treatment.
• Sensitivity to emotion with children.
• Employing developmentally appropriate interaction to build relationships.
• Constructing Relationships with Patients
• Pediatric nurses construct sound relationships with patients in health care.

7. Child-friendly communication Techniques 

Duties are:

• Influencing patients and families positively.
• Educating patients about their illnesses and treatment regimens.
• Preparing the family for post-discharge care at home.

Further job duties of a Pediatric health nurses include

1. Occupational Health Nurses

Establish and conduct employee health education programs and deliver registered nursing practice in private business and industry.

2. Community Health Nurses

Deliver health education and registered nursing care in public health centers and home visiting and perform complex home case coordination, conduct community needs assessment and program planning, screen disease and deliver immunization programs.

3. Registered Psychiatric Nurses

Give nursing care, supportive counseling and life skills training to patients of psychiatric hospitals, patients of mental health clinics, residents of long-term care facilities and community-based patients.

4. Nursing researchers and consultants

Conducted research activity in nursing, either independently or as hospital, public and private sector organization and government-employed

Offer consultative services to institutes, associations and health care organizations on issues and topics of interest to the nursing profession and nursing practice.

5. Clinical nurses

Offer direction, guidance and leadership on the adoption of evidence-based care for targeted groups of patients within individual health care organizations’ care.

Paediatric Nursing Profession

A career in paediatric nursing can offer numerous opportunities for the advancement of your nursing skills, the provision of care to diverse young people and the use of your skills in different care environments.

Paediatric Care Environments

As a children’s nurse, you can practice in many different circumstances, supporting and nursing young people and children.

In a Nutshell 

Pediatric nursing is one of the nursing specialties that include pediatrics and the medical treatment of children from infancy through their adolescence. It is a highly significant specialty since the health status of children is not the same as adults because childhood is characterized by growth and developmental processes.

Being a paediatric nurse is an extremely rewarding and empowering career in which you will build strong professional relationships and witness vulnerable young children settle in your care.

Being a paediatric nurse is not just a profession in which you have to handle the client or clients but also their relatives, which brings along challenges with opportunities for personal and professional growth.