01.04 Day in the Life of a Peds (Pediatric) Nurse

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Today we’re going talk about what a typical day as a looks like for a pediatric nurse!  

So you come on shift and you get your patient assignment.  Your patients are Maria, Jacob, Vincent, and Alex.  Maria is a 3-year-old female who had her tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday.  Jacob is a 9-year-old male how has cerebral palsy. He has chronic constipation and has had to come in for a GI cleanout.  Vincent is a 2-week old male who has come in with a fever and is receiving antibiotics and waiting on culture results. Alex is a 16-year-old female with cystic fibrosis who has been admitted for a “tune-up”.



So you start your shift at 7am and you get handover and do your bedside checks. Then you get your assessment and vitals done.


8 am You quickly document and give Vincent his IV antibiotics.  Alex is awake and talking about her hospital pass. You give her meds and check her PICC line. Then you answer a call bell and give Maria some pain medicine. 9 am Your patients are up and eating breakfast.  You help with ADL’s and give Vincent his second round of antibiotics. Then it’s time to make some phone calls.  You call pharmacy looking for meds, you call the lactation consultant for Vincent's mom, then you call dietary to get high calorie meals for Alex.


10 am You get ready for rounds with the doctor and join in. You answer a call bell, Jacob pulled his NG tube out. You chat with the child life specialist about reinserting it.


11am You reinsert the NG tube.   Calculate Jacob's I’s & O’s and bring mom extra linens and supplies. 


12pm You help with lunches and give meds. You start working Maria’s discharge paperwork and answer some emails.  You get report from another nurse so they can go to lunch. 1pm You discharge Maria and discontinue her IV.  Vincent has a fever. You give some prn medication and notify the provider. 


2pm You give handover to another nurse so you can go to lunch.  When you come back, you get report from an ER nurse about your new admission- Tyler, a 9 year old boy with appendicitis. 


3pm Alex goes on hospital pass with friends.  Tyler arrives from ER. You admit him and give him some pain meds.


4pm You ring the OR and give the nurse report on Tyler. And give scheduled medications to Jacob and chat with his mom for a bit. 


5pm You give bedside handover to the transport team arrived to take Tyler to the OR, then help another nurse with a difficult IV in a very unhappy 3 year old. 


6pm Alex returns in time for Chest PT before dinner.  You calculate your patient’s I’s & O’s and finish up most of your documentation and give the last meds for the day. 


7pm You handover to the oncoming nurse and do bedside checks.  Then you go home and get ready to come back the next day!



I hope this gives you a sense of what it's like to be a peds nurse. Honestly, it's the BEST! Remember, we love you guys! Go out and be your best self today! And as always, Happy Nursing!
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