Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Essay

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When people think of a pediatric nurse practitioner, they normally think of a person who performs examinations, takes blood samples, and measures vital signs of children who are sick. What they don’t see are the countless hours spent getting to know the patient, showing sympathy and understanding, and having to explain the diagnosis and treatment plans to the parents and sometimes to the child. According to my career cruising inventory, any job in the medical field would be right for me. However, after reading the descriptions, I concluded that a pediatric nurse practitioner was the best path. I will be attending nursing school to receive my nurse practitioner license, while specializing in pediatrics. The skills, educational requirements, …show more content…

Obtaining a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and passing the licensing exam to become a Registered Nurse (RN) must be done first. The curriculum for attaining the degree relies heavily on sciences; mainly biology, chemistry, and anatomy and physiology. After receiving the RN license, the person must have at least 1 year of pediatric nursing experience to begin the process of becoming a pediatric nurse practitioner. Once an RN has obtained the requisite experience, they need to obtain a Master of Science in Nursing degree and take the licensing exam to become a nurse practitioner. The master’s degree program focuses heavily on Health Sciences such as health promotion, advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology, nursing theory, and any other specialized courses. (“Nurse Practitioner Educational Requirements”). With the multitude of pediatric nursing specialties available, the student may have to take many different classes. If, for example, the person wants to go into pediatric oncology, they may have to take classes in nutrition, microbiology, reproductive health, oncology, and child and adolescence health. They would also need around one thousand hours of pediatric oncology training and clinical work to get them ready (“How Would I Be a Pediatric Oncology

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