To ask what children's nursing is like as a career?

[consideringgg]

Considering applying to a children's nursing MSc, and wondering if children's nurses would recommend it as a career? I'm in my late 20s, childless but have experience working in a nursery when I was younger. I have a degree and MSc in Biology so know I'd cope with the academic side. I've worked in the NHS before but not in a patient-facing role so I have experience with the demands of 12 hour day and night shifts where you're constantly on your feet).

I feel this longing to be working in healthcare and doing something that's rewarding and making a difference to people. I currently work for Big Pharma and feel like the 9-5 desk job isn't for me.

My main question is what is the career progression like, and can you choose specialise in a particular area?

I’m a nurse but paeds. If you want to train then I think you should do it. Nursing can be incredible and there’s lots of scope for progressing in nursing in general, especially if you have an academically strong background. Advanced practitioner/nurse prescriber roles mean that nurses are now working more independently than ever before and you can easily specialise if you want to. If you currently work in Pharma you might be be interested in research nursing? The main issue is that the initial starting salary isn’t amazing (around £30k depending on the exact area/hours worked) and it takes a bit of time to work your way up. The other issue is that nursing right now is very stressful-but I suspect that other people will be along soon to tell you all about that.