You know you are a pediatric nurse when...

I had the honor and privilege to sit with a group of like minded nurses this week as I interviewed for a job at a wonderful children's hospital in Orlando.  I have been feeling the itch to get back to a pediatric ER for a little while.  I love where I am right now.  I have no desire to leave.  I just want to supplement what I am doing so I can bring back to my full time job more knowledge, more best practice and more ideas to better take care of kids in our area. 
The beauty in nursing as a profession you are only limited by your imagination.  There are jobs available if you are willing to get out of your comfort zone, look a little bit and put your self out there.  I have been very blessed in this career. 
How did my interview go?  They offered me a full time position.  As stated above, that is not what I am looking for.  Also this hospital is 75 miles away.  At this point in my life it would be like trying to fit the round peg of my family into the square peg "my career."  If I have learned anything in the past year or so, it's I am not defined by my career.  My value and worth are not directly tied to what I do to earn money.  I can make an impact in my workplace.  I pray that's what God is using me for.  But my family is what's going to go on long after I am gone from this planet.  It's my family that's going to be the testimony of the kind of person I was. 
So back to where I started, the awesome pediatric nurses.  As I left them, I got to thinking about what a unique breed of nurses we are.  So I woke up this morning and I little list popped in my head. I just what to share it with you.  It's original, well thought out title is... 
"You know you are a Pediatric Nurse when...."
1) Children don't scare you.  Parents do.
2) You know all the words to the Barney song, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and are unashamed to sing badly to calm and distract an anxious child. 
3) You pay attention to the words you use and tell every child there are no cats in the CAT scan because one time you didn't and had a very sad, confused patient.
4)  You use words like blue lines (veins), straws (IV catheter), soap (antiseptic), bee sting, pinch, poke to explain and IV start or blood draw to a child. 
5) You know bubbles and stickers are an essential part of nursing care.  It is a cardinal sin to not give out stickers to every child.
6) You could be a side show act at a carnival because you can state a babies age to the month just by looking at them and know a child's weight within 3-5 pounds just by knowing their age (after you convert it from kilograms).
7)  You have called the cops after seeing unrestrained children jumping around in the back of a moving car.
8)  Friends, relatives, neighbors call upon you to examine lacerations, extremity injury, rashes, fever "just to see what you think."
9)  You have heard "You work with kids?  It must be so sad."  more times than you can count.
10)  You know you work with kids because you are just caring for a patient.  You are caring for a future Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan, Taylor Swift, or Hilary Clinton.  You know a child has all that potential in them and you have seen and know what amazing odds they can overcome.  And when the outcome is not good, its a mixture of sadness and privilege to have been "chosen" to cross the families world at this time. 

So to all my pediatric nurse friends, you have crossed my mind over and over as I type this list.  I thank God that you were given this passion, this calling.  I pray that you will remember, even on the bad days, what an honor it is to care for these little souls.  You are following after the One who loves these children most of all.
"But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  Luke 18:16God bless,

joy