What does a pediatric nurse do?

A pediatric nurse is a registered nurse who offers medical and health care for children in hospitals and clinics. Pediatric nurses educate caregivers and parents on the effective methods of child health protection. They take care of children's health from birth to adolescence. They are experts in child care while they are working with their respective families to address their problems, fears, concerns, and other options. The necessary skills for this job include child development knowledge and communication skills.
Pediatric nurse responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real pediatric nurse resumes:
- Provide continuous telemetry monitoring and managing multiple patients with multiple high-risk medical conditions, utilizing interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
- Coordinate care for acute and chronic pediatric oncology patients with an emphasis on family centered care and patient education.
- Certify in ACLS and BLS.
- Provide excellent patient care to children, showing compassion and nurturing while in office.
- Function as a staff nurse in a twelve bed ICU caring for patients with various illnesses.
- Oversee proper treatment is administered to patients requiring respiratory care and telemetry monitoring.
- Deliver nursing care and assistance to patients for surgery operations; insert Foley catheter if require.
- Provide comprehensive acute care to pediatric oncology-hematology, organ/bone marrow transplant, surgical, and respiratory patients.
- Provide primary family -centered nursing care and administer chemotherapy to general oncology patients and bone marrow transplant patients
- Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) when need.
- Care for kids with physical and mental disabilities.
- Assist team of coworkers with resuscitation of patients.
- Administer emergent resuscitative care per ACLS protocol as needed.
- Execute medical order for treatment and performance EKG changes.
Pediatric nurse skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Pediatric Nurses are proficient in Patients, Home Health, and BLS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Pediatric Nurses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 22%
Organized and administered individualized age specific professional care to patients within the Pediatric Units in support of medical care.
- Home Health, 14%
Home health nursing for medically fragile pediatric population.
- BLS, 12%
Certified in PALS; BLS; PPRN (Pediatric Pain Resource Nurse); APHON chemo; CNII
- Acute Care, 6%
Completed 13 week assignments on diverse acute care units including respiratory, medical/ surgical, neurological and oncology.
- CPR, 5%
Instruct patients and family regarding care of central lines, G-tube, and CPR
- Acls, 3%
Certified Clinical Instructor: Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).
"patients," "home health," and "bls" are among the most common skills that pediatric nurses use at work. You can find even more pediatric nurse responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a pediatric nurse to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what pediatric nurses do because "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." Additionally, a pediatric nurse resume shows how pediatric nurses use communication skills: "provided specialized iv medications and chemotherapeutic agents as ordered, while maintaining communication with the physician provider. "
Compassion. Many pediatric nurse duties rely on compassion. "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients.," so a pediatric nurse will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways pediatric nurse responsibilities rely on compassion: "cared for each patient as a whole addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs with compassion and respect"
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for pediatric nurses to perform their duties. For an example of how pediatric nurse responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a pediatric nurse: "refer to job description details as with epic home health. ".
Emotional stability. A big part of what pediatric nurses do relies on "emotional stability." You can see how essential it is to pediatric nurse responsibilities because "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical pediatric nurse tasks: "monitored and provided emotional support, and a safe environment to patients undergoing psychiatric emergencies. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for pediatric nurse responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of pediatric nurses all the time, as "nurses often work with multiple patients who have a variety of health needs." An excerpt from a real pediatric nurse resume shows how this skill is central to what a pediatric nurse does: "assessed patients effectively and in a fast-paced environment using excellent organizational and customer service skills. "
Physical stamina. While "physical stamina" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to pediatric nurse responsibilities. Much of what a pediatric nurse does relies on this skill, seeing as "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of pediatric nurses: "perform physical, medical and diagnostic tests, such as vision test, audiogram, ekg, etc. "
The three companies that hire the most pediatric nurses are:
- BAYADA Home Health Care3,016 pediatric nurses jobs
- Trusted Health Plans1,422 pediatric nurses jobs
- Aya Healthcare740 pediatric nurses jobs
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Pediatric nurse vs. Emergency department registered nurse
An emergency registered nurse is first in line for patients who need a response. These nurses are first to respond to emergency cases such as trauma, allergic reactions, and injuries. They assist doctors and other medical staff in emergency medical care. It is their responsibility to always provide high-quality standards for nursing. The skills they should possess include diligence, attention to detail, levelheadedness, and strong communication. They also need to be knowledgeable about emergency care.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, pediatric nurse responsibilities require skills like "bls," "picu," "oncology," and "primary care." Meanwhile a typical emergency department registered nurse has skills in areas such as "life support," "patient outcomes," "triage," and "tncc." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Emergency department registered nurses really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $77,094. Comparatively, pediatric nurses tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $64,106.On average, emergency department registered nurses reach similar levels of education than pediatric nurses. Emergency department registered nurses are 0.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Pediatric nurse vs. Nurse coordinator
A nurse coordinator is primarily in charge of overseeing all nurses and their activities in a hospital or clinic. Their responsibilities include managing and rotating schedules, assessing nurse performance, organizing nursing programs, and developing strategies to optimize procedures. They may also assist patients and answer inquiries, studying their conditions to develop specific care plans to suit their needs. Furthermore, as a nurse coordinator, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals, all while implementing the facility's policies and regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real pediatric nurse resumes. While pediatric nurse responsibilities can utilize skills like "bls," "acute care," "picu," and "advanced life support," nurse coordinators use skills like "customer service," "data collection," "quality care," and "community resources."
On average, nurse coordinators earn a higher salary than pediatric nurses. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, nurse coordinators earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $80,569. Whereas pediatric nurses have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $64,106.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Nurse coordinators tend to reach similar levels of education than pediatric nurses. In fact, they're 4.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for pediatric nurses in the next 3-5 years?
Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University
Pediatric nurse vs. Nurse educator
A nurse educator is responsible for teaching aspiring professional nurses, designing courses according to the curriculum, and organizing activities to practice and enhance the students' knowledge. Nurse educators manage clinical activities and observe the students' performance in actual training. They must have excellent knowledge of the medical industry, as well as its practices, to respond to the students' inquiries and concerns accurately. A nurse educator identifies the students' strengths and weaknesses, develop comprehensive lesson plans, and strategizing various nursing programs.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, pediatric nurses are more likely to have skills like "picu," "icu," "discharge planning," and "primary care." But a nurse educator is more likely to have skills like "bsn," "professional development," "educational programs," and "staff development."
Nurse educators earn the best pay in the pharmaceutical industry, where they command an average salary of $94,493. Pediatric nurses earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $64,106.nurse educators typically earn higher educational levels compared to pediatric nurses. Specifically, they're 14.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Pediatric nurse vs. Registered nurse charge nurse
A registered charge nurse is responsible for supervising nurses' workflow in a particular department or area, ensuring every patient gets the proper care that they need. A registered charge nurse has the discretion to direct tasks, arrange schedules, and monitor patients, such as in the aspects of admission and discharge. Furthermore, a registered charge nurse must maintain an active line of communication and coordination among nurses, physicians, and other personnel involved as the conditions in a hospital can be unpredictable.
Types of pediatric nurse
Updated January 8, 2025











