Pediatric Nurse Practioner Week on March, 2025: Can anyone tell me about becoming a Pediatric Nurse Practioner? salary? work enviornment? schooling?

Pediatric Nurse Practioner Week 2025. Pediatrics Weekend Medical Offering Urgent Care For Children Up To 18 Years Old. Extended Hours.

Nurse Practitioner

Working Conditions

Nurse practitioners work in many diverse settings, such as community health centers, hospital outpatient clinics, family practice departments, drop-in centers, and assisted living facilities.

They usually work indoors in offices and treatment rooms. Sometimes they travel to clients’ homes.

Nurse practitioners may work one-on-one with patients or as part of a team with doctors and other health care providers.

They may come into contact with infectious diseases. Dealing with clients’ problems can also be mentally stressful, and nurse practitioners need to be able to handle this kind of stress.

Nurse practitioners usually work a 5 day, 40 hour week. Occasionally, shift work may be required, or they may be on-call if patients call in with questions or get sick. During busy periods, they might have to work overtime.

Education & Training

Generally, to become a nurse practitioner, you must first complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Then, you must pass the exams that allow you to become a registered nurse (RN). After gaining clinical working experience as an RN, you must take additional nurse practitioner training. Most people work as an RN for at least 2 years before applying to a nurse practitioner program.

Nurse practitioner programs lead to a master’s degree, and generally last between 1 and 2 years. Many programs also give students the option of studying on a part-time basis. Students complete both classroom study and supervised clinical work. Applicants who already have a master’s degree in nursing can enter a post-master’s certificate program.

Admission requirements vary slightly by program, so it’s a good idea to contact the school you’re interested in for specific information.

Certification is available in a number of different specialty areas, including pediatrics, gerontology, acute care, and family practice. Applicants are required to write an exam set by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Although certification is not required, it can be helpful in the job market.

Many states require nurse practitioners to obtain a license to practice. This generally involves passing a state licensing exam.

Earnings

Earnings for nurse practitioners vary depending on location, employer, education, and experience. Higher levels of education typically lead to higher salaries.

Salaries for full-time nurse practitioners can range anywhere from about $35,000 to more than $100,000 a year. Average earnings across the country are approximately $70,000 a year. Those who own their own practices tend to earn higher salaries than other nurse practitioners.

Part-time nurse practitioners are usually paid on an hourly basis, and the amount they earn in a year depends on the number of hours they work and their rate of pay. The average hourly wage for nurse practitioners is approximately $34.

Nurse practitioners who work full-time usually receive benefits, such as paid vacation, sick leave, dental insurance, and a pension. Many employers also pay nurse practitioners’ liability insurance and pay for them to attend continuing education courses.

Level of Experience

Entry Wage

$30.22

$62,850 a year

Median Wage

$35.23

$73,280 a year

Experienced Wage

$42.29

$87,960 a year

Haven't slept for a week!?

chances are that you are taking too high a dose or more likely you aren't actually ADHD....

people with true add/adhd get the opposite effect from a stimulant as most people would... rather than it speeding them up, it slows them down and believe it or not helps them sleep at the end of the day. i was just talking to my nurse about this earlier, she was saying how so many people don't realize this. doctors easily misdiagnose it, or are ignorant because they just want to get your money and give you scripts. talk to your doctor, or another doctor if you're unhappy with this. you may be able to switch to a different medication, or the regular adderall that isn't time released. (xr stands for extended release so that you get it throughout the day... when i tried this sort i found it had no effect on me and had to switch to regular)

its important to be careful with adderall, when you're already stressed and taking too much of a dose (whether you are consiously doing it or because your doctor made a mistake) it can make things that much more stressful because, as it sounds in your case, your heart is pumping more than it normally would and your all amped up, which will possibly result in high anxiety from your stress... its not fun, trust me!!!

is the ambien something you're supposed to take every night? maybe you shouldn't be skipping it, as some doctors will prescribe a sleeping pill to avoid the whole missing-nights-of-sleep situation. the last time i missed so many nights of sleep i ended up in the emergency room and diagnosed with psychosis... the idiot doctor jumped to such a conclusion that he prescribed me an anti psychotic that is given to those with schitzophrenia and even with just taking half of his recommended dose i fell asleep for 16 hours and ended up awake for yet another 4 days after that! the psychopharmasutical world is such a sensitive area... a slight misdiagnosis or just barely too high or low of a perscription can result in a messy situation. make sure you're seeing a trustworthy doctor! there are many out there who don't admit to their wrong doing, don't think of their patients as people and more of a diagnosis who gets the same perscription as the other people diagnosed with the same disorders no matter what differences fall between them. i'm not a fan of sleeping medications as i already have sleep apnea and i found that it made it harder for my body to wake itself up when i stopped breathing in my sleep. it feels too unsafe, so my doctor has helped me to the right dosage that not only helps me focus during the day but actually helps me sleep at night somehow even though i've had insomnia for at least 10 years, if not more before i was diagnosed.

sorry! i hate to sound like i'm sitting here being a 1-upper or comparing stories to say i'm worse.. its not the case... i just find that sometimes hearing other's stories can help get some ideas of what could be going wrong or what isn't going wrong with someone...

**i'm NOT a doctor or somebody who has the right to properly diagnose anyone or give valid medical advice... the only way to get the right solution is to see your psychiatrist/perscriber/general practioner (or pediatric doctor if you're seeing one of them though it sounds like you're older than that)...

i really really wish you the best of luck and hope that you and a doctor can figure out what is going on and how to go about fixing the problem... it sounds dangerous at this point... try to make an appointment as soon as you can! if not today, within the next few days... if your doctors cant see you there is always the emergency room, but if you're truly adhd/add they can be frustrating there because so many pill-seekers pop in and out trying to get prescriptions that they almost assume everyone is there for that reason. my local e-room actually instated a new rule that they won't even prescribe to anyone unless they somehow find that it truly is an emergency. in the least they can push you in the direction of reliable prescribers who will work with you for your needs.

again... good luck... it sounds like you've got so much going for you. something to be very proud of. dont let this crap get the best of your life!!!

hope i helped in some way

:)

What would be my options?

Nurses have their area of expertise. There are pediatric nurses, oncology nurses, psychiatric nurses, neuro nurses, cardiac nurses, ER nurses, ICU nurses, neonatal nurse, OB nurses, etc. We all go through the same format of nursing school, though, and are not trained for any one particular area specifically while in school, in terms of curriculum. There is no specific designation or credential to say you are one vs the other, but your line of training sets up your specialty. All of these types of nurses are RNs, and some have bachelors degrees, and some don't. Most nursing schools have what's called "role transition" or some similar title where in the last bit of school, they spend several weeks to months in an area they think they may want to practice. For example, in school, everyone usually does pediatrics, OB, med/surg, psychiatric, and maybe community nursing or geriatrics during school. This way, you are fairly well rounded. Say at the end, you think you may want to be an OB nurse, so then you do your role transition in OB to get more experience. Most of your specialized training comes after school when you start your job. There are also advanced practice nurses who fall under titles like Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practioner, Critical Care nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, and Nurse Anesthetist. These nurses go to graduate school and earn masters degress to practice in these areas. For example, I went to nursing school and knew I wanted to be a nurse anesthetist. To get into a graduate program for nurse anesthesia, you need a bachelors degree in nursing and at least 2 years of critical care nursing (er, icu, cath lab, etc). So I got hired as a nurse in a Surgical/Trauma ICU right after graduation and worked there for a few years to gain experience and learn about critical care and surgical patients, and then applied to school. I started my nurse anesthesia graduate program this fall, and I'll be done 2 years from now. I'll have my masters of science in nursing, and then sit for my board to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). So yes, you can "specialize" in an area, and you would be very surprised to see how far-reaching the realm of nursing is. There are countless opportunities!