Five careers for Children's Nursing graduates

Here are some of the careers you could find yourself working in:

Community Children’s Nurse

Provide high quality nursing care to children and young people in the home, school and community settings.

Community children’s nursing includes a wide variety of nursing needs, including acute and chronic illness, complex health needs, accidents and end of life care. 

Responsibilities of the role include:

• providing hands-on clinical care
• building a strong relationship with the child or young person
• interpreting the child’s behaviour and reactions
• ordering and supplying necessary equipment
• working closely with the child’s parents or carers
• connecting with other services and professionals to provide holistic care
• providing nursing care and treatment plans

There’s a wide range of roles you could advance into, including working towards specialist roles, becoming a team leader, becoming involved in community services, or becoming a director of community services.

Children’s Advanced Nurse Practitioner

Manage patients at an advanced level, including assessment, diagnosis and treatment decisions. 

Educated at the Master’s level with training and qualifications in clinical assessment, children’s advanced nurse practitioners can work independently from doctors. With clinical assessment training and some hands-on experience, you’ll be able to safely case manage patients who have not yet been assessed by another health care professional or doctor.
 
Your responsibilities could include:

• examining patients by checking symptoms, asking questions and doing physical examinations
• diagnosing and making treatment decisions
• ordering and interpreting blood tests, scans or x-rays
• helping patients and their parents or carers manage long-term conditions
• working in GP clinics, hospitals or community care
• communicating with and supporting patients and their parents or carers in an inclusive, sensitive way
• undertaking home visits, when appropriate
• taking a leadership role in improving and delivering high quality care

With experience you could specialise in one area of care, such as emergency and urgent care, general practice, mental health, or oncology.

Completing an independent prescribing qualification to become a non-medical prescriber (NMP) means you’ll be able to prescribe medicines, including some controlled medicines.   

Neonatal Nurse

Care for newborn babies who are born premature or with serious health conditions.

If you are a registered children’s nurse, adult nurse or midwife you can specialise as a neonatal nurse. Neonatal nurses provide care to newborn infants born premature or with a range of health needs and conditions that could be life threatening.
 
Your responsibilities could include:

• preparing, checking and giving medications
• managing a baby’s fluids
• observing, recording and documenting a baby’s care
• working in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), local neonatal unit, special care baby unit or in the community to recently discharged babies and their parents or carers
• working shifts that ensure 24-hour, round the clock care
• being empathetic, understanding and supportive of parents or carers during their anxious time
• caring for babies being stabilised for surgery

A baby’s condition in neonatal care can change quickly, so being very observant, flexible, confident and highly organised will help you thrive in this career. 

With work experience you can move into many different types of roles, including family care, feeding, leadership, safety, advanced practice and post-hospital care.

Children’s Emergency Department Nurse

Care for injured or acutely unwell children in the Emergency Department.

As a children's emergency department nurse, you’ll assist in the assessment and care to children who have acute and urgent physical and mental health needs.
 
Responsibilities of the role include:

• caring for children who have been brought to the Emergency Department
• working with the child’s parents or carers
• building a rapport with the child, and helping distract them during tests, treatments and emergency procedures
• mentoring junior staff
• working with clinicians, including doctors, GPs, specialty doctors, and emergency nurse practitioners
• developing and maintaining emergency nursing skills
• advocating for children and families
• working in hospital emergency departments that are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 

A strong interest in gaining clinical skills in emergency medicine and major trauma is helpful for nurses interested in pursuing this role. 

Excellent communication skills and enthusiasm for working in a challenging but rewarding environment will be beneficial for this type of role. 

Specialist Healthcare Practitioner for the Youth Justice Service

Support children aged 10-18 who are involved in the youth justice system.

Specialist healthcare practitioners use their Master’s level qualifications to work with children and young people in, or at risk of entering, the youth justice system. In this role you’ll identify and care for their health needs and conditions. 

Responsibilities of the role include:

• working face-to-face with children and young people
• identifying their physical, emotional, and/or neurodivergent health needs
• providing support and treatment plans for the child or young person
• building relationships based on trust
• seeing children and young people at home, in school, at local centres or at the Youth Justice Centre
• using creativity and flexibility when providing care to get the best outcome
• signposting, referring and supporting access to other health services
• working with the young person’s parents or carers
• supporting, consulting and advising the wider Youth Justice Service

It’s likely you’ll need to travel to different locations within your role’s district, which may involve driving.

As a registered nurse, additional education, such as Master’s level specialist healthcare practitioner qualifications may help you find a role in this area, along with experience working with children and young people.

Get stuck in to your future.

Apply to study our BSc (Hons) Nursing (Children's) degree and see where it could take you.