Paediatric nurse jobs

Paediatric Nurse jobs: frequently asked questions

Welcome to our Paediatric Nurse jobs page, featuring the very latest paediatric nursing roles across the UK, as well as frequently asked questions below.

What is a Paediatric Nurse?

Paediatric Nurses, also known as Children’s Nurses, care for children and young adults. That can potentially mean anything from supporting newborns to treating teenagers. You could work in a wide variety of settings, including hospitals, day care centres, clinics, the community or children’s homes.

Roles are available in the NHS and the private sector. You’ll often work in multidisciplinary teams, and you’ll spend a lot of time using your communication skills to understand the needs and feelings of children and relaying plans and treatments carefully with parents and family members.

What are the daily duties of a Paediatric Nurse?

Your duties depend on the setting in which you work to an extent, but will normally include:

• Assessing symptoms and reporting on patient condition

• Preparing patients for procedures and treatments

• Administering medication

• Monitoring vital signs

• Setting up drips and blood transfusions

• Explaining treatments, plans and medications to children and their families

Although community roles can be structured around a 9-5 basis, this is often a shift-based role which may require night shifts, weekend work and other unsociable hours.

How do you become a Paediatric Nurse?

To become a Paediatric Nurse you need to be registered with the Nursing & Midwifery Council. And to be eligible to register you need a nursing degree – ideally in Children’s Nursing, although it is possible to study General Nursing and transfer your focus later on.

Courses typically last three years and are available at universities and institutions throughout the country.

Half of your course will involve clinical practice, while the other half will focus on academic study.

Another possible route is to do an apprenticeship, which has the added benefit of making funding your studies more manageable.

In terms of skills and personality traits, you will need compassion and emotional resilience in abundance, and you’ll need to have exceptional communication skills in order to build the trust of children and relay important information to their families.

How much do Paediatric Nurses earn?

Paediatric Nurses within the NHS are paid according to the same banding system as any other Nurse.

A newly qualified Paediatric Nurse begins on a Band 5 salary, which is currently £28,407 a year. This can rise to £34,581 a year with enough experience.

To earn more money, you’ll need to work your way up through the bands by acquiring new experience and qualifications, and applying for more senior roles.

Most experienced Paediatric Nurses work at Band 6 or 7 with salaries ranging from £35,392 to £50,056.

Privately, salaries are harder to pinpoint because they are unregulated. According to industry statistics, the average Paediatric Nurse earns between £30,000 and £35,000 a year in the private sector, which roughly correlates with an NHS salary for someone with a few years of experience.

Find your next Paediatric Nurse job today

View our latest roles above, or if you can’t find what you’re looking for, create an account, register your CV here and we’ll send you the latest positions as soon as we get them.

For more information, read this complete guide to becoming a Children's Nurse by Grace Barry.