- knowledge of psychology
- customer service skills
- knowledge of medicine
- excellent verbal communication skills
- the ability to use your initiative
- leadership skills
- the ability to work well with others
- the ability to understand people’s reactions
- to be flexible and open to change
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
You may:
- work with doctors to assess the needs of children who are ill, injured or have disabilities
- decide what level of nursing care is required
- carry out a range of clinical procedures like using medical equipment, dressing wounds, giving injections and medication
- monitor and interpret a child's behaviour to recognise if their health has become worse
- support parents and carers to help them cope with having an ill child in hospital
- advise parents and carers on how to care for their child on returning home
You may need to wear a uniform.
You could work in an NHS or private hospital, at a hospice, at a children's care home, at a GP practice or at a health centre.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
With experience you could move into a specialised area like:burns and plastics; child protection; cancer care; neonatal nursing; intensive care
You could also become a sister, ward manager or team leader. In these roles you'd have responsibility for running a ward or a team of nurses in the community.
Other management roles you could work towards include matron or director of nursing.
You could train as a health visitor, neonatal or school nurse, or practice nurse in a doctor's surgery. You could also become self-employed or work overseas.
With further study and experience, you could move into a nurse consultant position. In this job you'd work with patients to carry out research. You'd also develop and deliver training.
You'll find more advice about how to become a children's nurse from the Royal College of Nursing and Health Careers.