Pediatric nurses provide comprehensive patient care to children, as well as educating and supporting them throughout their hospital stay. To enter this role, you must select a nursing program, earn your degree, pass the NCLEX-RN, gain clinical experience, and potentially become certified.
Approximately 5.2 million children in the U.S. experience a hospital stay each year, according to The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit organization for patient safety. These children rely on the clinical care and compassion of pediatric nurses to meet their complex healthcare needs and provide emotional support. If contributing to this vital care sparks your interest, start by learning how to become a pediatric nurse.
At Utica University, our Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) or Advanced Standing B.S. in Nursing programs offer students a comprehensive nursing education on an expedited timeline, enabling them to graduate in as few as 16 months. If you have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or a minimum of 65 credits from an accredited institution, you may be eligible to leverage your academic experience toward a nursing career. By building a solid nursing foundation at Utica, you can confidently pursue your preferred specialty, including pediatric nursing.
Let’s examine the key details of this nursing specialty, such as day-to-day responsibilities, expected salary, and career progression.
What Is a Pediatric Nurse?
What do pediatric nurses do? Pediatric nurses care for children from birth through adolescence. During this period of rapid development, children are susceptible to illnesses, injuries, developmental concerns, and mental health issues that are uniquely addressed in the pediatrics field.
Some common pediatric nursing duties include:
- Performing diagnostic tests
- Performing head-to-toe assessments
- Recording symptoms, vital signs, and caregiver observations
- Educating patients and caregivers
- Administering medications and treatments
As a pediatric nurse, also known as a “peds nurse,” you will have a significant impact on your patients’ futures, requiring you to build trusting relationships and pay close attention to details to avoid missing any vital information that could be key to providing proper care. Since children may not have the language or cognitive abilities to articulate their issues, it is up to you and your care team to ask the right questions and make the necessary connections.
Within pediatric nursing, some nurses choose to subspecialize in areas such as pediatric oncology nursing or pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nursing.
Five Steps to Becoming a Peds Nurse
The distance between you and your future career may seem vast, but the process of how to become a pediatric nurse can be broken down into five simple steps.
1. Find Your Ideal Nursing Program
Your prior education and desired degree level primarily determine your path into the nursing field. For instance, an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) can typically be completed in two years and requires minimal academic qualifications. An ADN, however, may also disqualify you from more complex specialties and is less preferred by employers than a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).
If you decide to pursue a BSN, a traditional BSN program requires only a high school diploma and takes four years of study to complete. Alternatively, you may be eligible for an accelerated BSN program, like those at Utica, if you have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or have accrued a requisite number of credits from an accredited university.
By leveraging your previous education and several foundational degree requirements, Utica’s ABSN and Advanced Standing B.S. in Nursing programs allow you to enjoy the benefits of a BSN on an ADN timeline, enabling you to graduate in as few as 16 months.
While there is no wrong path into nursing, take the time to discover the importance of a BSN.
2. Earn Your Nursing Degree
Every nursing program varies, but a well-rounded nursing education must include a mix of theory and practice-based elements. If you choose Utica University’s ABSN or Advanced Standing B.S. in Nursing program, for example, your nursing curriculum will consist of:
- Online Coursework: Utica’s ABSN program covers essential nursing theory concepts, from clinical research to leadership, through our flexible and intuitive online platform. Alternatively, Utica’s Advanced Standing B.S. in Nursing offers the same accelerated timeline, with classes held exclusively on Utica’s main campus in Utica, New York, and supported by online components.
- Nursing abs: Utica’s clinical skills and nursing simulation labs prepare students to apply core nursing skills in the real world by practicing in a safe, controlled environment. Labs are held in person at either the ABSN learning site in Albany, New York, or on Utica’s main campus.
- Clinical Placements: Utica’s clinical placements start in the first semester at various local healthcare facilities throughout central New York. Targeting different clinical specialties, including pediatrics, clinicals allow students to practice ethical patient care delivery in a supervised environment.
Upon completing Utica’s ABSN curriculum in as few as 16 months, you’ll be prepared to confidently tackle the next step in how to become a pediatric nurse and earn registered nurse (RN) licensure.
3. Pass the NCLEX-RN and Achieve State Licensure
Before you can begin working as a licensed registered nurse, you must pass the NCLEX-RN exam. This rigorous exam tests your ability to respond appropriately to diverse patient care scenarios, on top of your working knowledge of nursing theory. At Utica University, our nursing faculty are dedicated to preparing students to sit for the NCLEX-RN by ensuring they are exposed to the exam format and types of questions they’ll encounter.
4. Build Clinical Experience as an RN
After passing the NCLEX-RN exam, you’ll be eligible for licensure in your state and begin working as a registered nurse. Note that licensing is not based on clinical specialty, so your nursing license qualifies you to pursue most specialties available for your first nursing role. If there are no peds nurse openings at the beginning of your search, or the role requires more experience, you might choose to spend some time working at a birthing center or in primary care. Either of these positions can help your transition into pediatrics later.
5. Pass the Certified Pediatric Nursing (CPN) Exam
Once you’ve established yourself as a peds nurse, you may wish to validate your knowledge and become certified. To those who meet the work experience requirements and pass the certification exam, the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB) confers the Certified Pediatric Nurse (CPN) credential, designating these nurses as experts in their specialty. The PNCB notes that board-certified peds nurses may enjoy increased compensation, career mobility, and hiring preference by healthcare leaders. Please note that a CPN requires ongoing education and annual recertification.
How Much Does a Pediatric Nurse Make?
While the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) doesn’t track salaries for individual specialties, the median annual salary for nurses in 2024 was $93,600. Compensation will vary depending on location, experience, degree level, specialty, and other factors. For instance, the BLS reported the median annual salary for RNs located in New York as $105,600 in 2024.
Contributing to these salaries is the high demand for nurses across the industry. The BLS reports that employment of RNs is expected to grow by 5% from 2024 to 2034, which is significantly faster than the average growth rate for all occupations. This will result in about 189,100 added registered nurse jobs during this period.
Learn more about why nurses are in demand and why now is the right time to become a nurse.
Make a Difference Faster at Utica University
Since its founding, Utica University has prided itself on educating students to go out and meet the needs of their communities. Now that you know how to become a pediatric nurse, you can decide whether this career is the right way for you to make a difference. If so, Utica University’s ABSN or Advanced Standing B.S. in Nursing program can help you reach your goal. Start by contacting a dedicated admission representative to learn more about the application process.
