Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Careers Tips

It takes a certain personality to handle pediatric critical care jobs. Working with critically ill children can take a toll on your emotional health, especially when the prognosis and final outcome is not good. PICU jobs require highly skilled, specialized nursing staff who can work under pressure. Any critical care position involves a high degree of stress, but working with children also involves working directly with worried parents and/or caregivers.

In order to qualify for many PICU jobs, it helps to have specialized training. As a travel professional seeking PICU jobs, Clinical One can help get you where you want to go. Clinical One offers hundreds of free continuing education courses and workshops (mostly available online). Some courses and workshops are geared more toward PICU jobs than others, but there’s a course out there no matter what your educational needs are.

The bottom line is that Clinical One will be there to support all of your endeavors as you seek to further your pediatric critical care nursing career.

How long have you been searching for PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) jobs? If several months have gone by and you’re still not getting anywhere, it might be time to seek the help of the professionals. Clinical One is a healthcare recruitment agency that can really set your nursing career on fire. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective, some career support, and a whole new world of job opportunities.

Clinical One can not only help you find PICU jobs, they can help you save money in the process. If you’ve been overlooking out-of-state PICU jobs because you can’t afford the moving expenses and you’re not certain whether you have the proper licensure, Clinical One can wipe away all of that uncertainty. Because Clinical One works with you to make sure you have the qualifications and licensure, you have nothing to worry about. In addition, Clinical One will help pay for your travel expenses and will even pay for a one bedroom furnished apartment for the duration of your travel nursing assignment. It’s that easy! So, if you want to open up a world of PICU jobs, go straight to Clinical One for help.

If you’re seeking PICU jobs through a travel recruitment agency like Clinical One, it’s important to be savvy about where you’re going and where you’re going to live. Your recruitment specialists at Clinical One will do everything they can to ensure you’re living in a safe and comfortable environment, but you are still going to be living in a new town or city where you don’t know a lot of people and might not be familiar with the culture, geography, and areas of high crime. With a little common sense, you can keep yourself safe while working PICU jobs or any other travel related nursing positions.

1) Working night shifts? Leave a light or two on in your apartment while you’re gone. You want people to think that there could be someone home, or that you’re not living alone.

2) After hours, make sure your driveway or parking lot is well lit.

3) Don’t be shy about making friends with your neighbors. The more people you know, the better off you’ll be. The locals are always the best way to find out about where you’re living.

4) Be aware of your surroundings wherever you are. An underground parking lot isn’t the place to drift off into a daydream. Pay attention to the people and activity around you.

Again, Clinical One isn’t going to put you in a dangerous location, but it’s always a good idea to watch your step wherever you decide to accept PICU jobs.

Even though saving lives is your main goal in PICU jobs, it’s imperative to remember that little ears tend to perk up when adults speak. They may not say much, but they’re listening to everything you say. Even PICU nurses who think they’re the most tactful people in the world could stand to step back and pay attention to their words. Not sure how to go about making the changes necessary to be a more sensitive PICU nurse? If you work with Clinical One, you’re eligible for free continuing education opportunities. Those courses could involve any number of things, including courses on communications and interacting with patients and their families.

Obviously if it’s a life or death scenario, you do and say what you have to in order to save the patient. However, there’s a lot of communication that goes on between the PICU nurse, other medical staff, and the parents, that the children may confuse or not completely understand. The last thing you want to do is cause unnecessary worry in a child who already has enough on his or her plate.

As you accept various PICU jobs through Clinical One, remember those little ears and be respectful of the fact that these children are often scared and confused.

Are you young and adventurous or at least young at heart? To really amp up your PICU nursing career, consider taking travel jobs through Clinical One. Clinical One will help you find jobs all over the United States. Don’t go it alone though! The more qualified friends you can refer to Clinical One, the more referral bonus money you’ll make. Here’s the thing…your friends don’t have to be qualified to do the same jobs that you do. For example, if you’re looking for PICU jobs, you don’t have to refer friends who are also looking for PICU jobs. You might have friends who are qualified occupational therapists, medical records technicians, or who have expertise in other nursing specialties. The only stipulation is that your friend must successfully complete one full travel nursing or allied healthcare assignment.

It’s possible that you and your friend could seek and find PICU jobs (or other related jobs) in the same town or city. Maybe you’ll even share an apartment together! Travel nursing can be lonely, but knowing that you’ve got a friend to lean on and share the adventure with would make it better. Take that extra referral money (up to $250!) and buy yourself something nice, go out to a new restaurant, or visit the theater. What ever you decide to do, enjoy yourself!

Clinical depression doesn’t always look the same for everyone. Just because you’re not breaking down into tears every five minutes doesn’t mean you don’t have a form of depression. How’s your appetite? Are you sleeping well? What about your hobbies and recreational interests? If you no longer have the energy or desire to participate in activities you once enjoyed, you might be depressed.

The reality of accepting PICU jobs is that there will be heartbreak. Unfortunately, pediatric intensive care nursing can turn out badly just as easily as it can go well. In addition to dealing with your own grief, there’s the family to deal with as well. Pay attention to the warning signs of depression. If you’ve been working in PICU jobs for a while and have witnessed or experienced traumatic events like the death of a child, your mental health may not be able to withstand the stress.

PICU jobs are especially stressful and demanding. If you’re feeling the need to take a break from PICU jobs, consider working with Clinical One. Clinical One, a healthcare recruitment agency, can take you out of those PICU jobs and place you into a different nursing specialty. Clinical One will talk with you to find out where your skills and experience could take you. After that, you’ll soon be on your way to a new nursing travel position and a chance to experience nursing in a whole new light.

In a world where everything is instant, attention spans tend to wane and job burnout occurs more quickly. If you’re the kind of person who needs constant adrenaline combined with new challenges to stay happy, consider working with Clinical One. Clinical One, a healthcare recruitment company, can keep you on the go, accepting a wide variety of travel nursing positions all over the country. Depending on the healthcare field you’re in, you may even be able to apply for positions internationally.

Instead of working on the same pediatric intensive care unit for years, Clinical One can help you find PICU jobs that have a duration of weeks and/or months. You simply apply for the PICU jobs you’re most interested in and wait to hear from your recruitment specialist. With short-term travel nursing opportunities, you get the chance to dive into new challenges on a regular basis. If you’re not particularly fond of your travel assignment this time, you know that there’s always that next assignment to look forward to. Love your current PICU jobs? You may be able to extend your stay or reapply for future PICU jobs at that particular location. Just keep in close communication with your Clinical One recruitment specialist. He or she will be your guide through and to all travel nursing job assignments.

No matter what kind of stress or anxiety you're feeling in your PICU jobs, the reality is that the children you’re working with are really getting the brunt of it. Scared, anxious, and possibly in pain, these children need to be playfully reminded that they’re children, and not simply sick patients. The best nurses in PICU jobs know how to reach sick children and touch their hearts in a way that not everyone can. The following tips should help you to establish an age-appropriate rapport between you and the child patient:

1) Talk to the parents first and find out what and how much you can reveal to the child about the child’s condition.

2) Forget the medical-speak you learned in nursing school. These are kids! Call your stethoscope “Sally” and your blood pressure cuff “Puff.” Take some of the seriousness out of the medical environment by infusing a touch of creativity for the kids.

3) If allowed by the hospital, ask the parents to bring in a favorite toy or comfort blanket for the child.

4) Talk to the child about his or her interests, hobbies, or favorite games to play.

Remember, while you’re rushing around your PICU job trying to do whatever you can to improve the child’s health, that child is wondering what’s going on and is probably feeling a great deal of fear. The best thing you can do is to try and alleviate that fear by lending a friendly ear and infusing a little humor into the room.

PICU jobs (pediatric intensive care unit jobs) are not for everyone. However, there are some great reasons to consider working in that specialty. The following five reasons just might get you thinking about PICU jobs and what they could mean to you.

1) Working with children is a unique and rewarding experience that will force you to rethink the way you talk to patients. With children, you have to talk in simplistic yet reassuring terms that the children and their parents can understand.

2) PICU jobs will help you develop new skill sets, whether it’s utilizing new techniques or using new medical equipment.

3) Working in pediatric intensive care units can really give you a new perspective on life.

4) A pediatric critical care nurse typically has more experience than a general RN and stands to make more money because of that.

5) PICU nurses quickly develop the ability to work under pressure.

There are countless reasons why people would want to accept PICU jobs and these are just the tip of the iceberg. For some people, it’s the desire to work with children. Watching a child in critical care gradually improve and go on to live a happy, healthy life, is incredibly gratifying. People in PICU jobs must also be able to handle the downside to the job. The reality is, not everybody survives and goes on to live a full life. A PICU nurse has to be able to handle that aspect of nursing care as well.

Looking for PICU jobs? Pediatric critical care jobs are out there, but if you’re having trouble finding one on your own, consider working with a top notch healthcare recruitment agency like Clinical One. The following are the top 10 reasons why you might want to try and find PICU jobs with the help of Clinical One.

1) Free education! All employees who’ve been screened and are ready to start accepting PICU jobs and other work assignments are eligible to sign up for free continuing education classes. Classes include a wide variety of topics suitable for all nursing levels.

2) You can refer your friends to Clinical One and get a little extra spending money. Referral bonuses are as high as $250, but the catch is that your friend(s) have to complete at least one nursing assignment first.

3) Clinical One, a Randstad company, has a solid reputation that employers recognize. It’s a lot easier to find those PICU jobs with a nationally recognized recruitment agency like Clinical One standing behind you.

4) Free housing! Clinical One will pay the expenses of a one bedroom furnished apartment in the town or city of your travel assignment. Already have housing? Then Clinical One will provide you with a housing subsidy to help cover your expenses.

5) Health and dental benefits are available with Clinical One from DAY ONE! No 30 day or longer waiting period. You will be fully covered as of the first day of your assignment.

6) Clinical One offers you the unique opportunity to travel. Want to find PICU jobs in Boston? Clinical One can help. Interested in taking PICU jobs in Hawaii? Clinical One can help with that too.

7) Safety. Clinical One works hard to make sure that you’re placed in a safe working and living environment.

8) International opportunities. Clinical One can help you find permanent work internationally.

9) Need to make sure you’ve got the proper state licensure? Clinical One offers personalized assistance to make sure you’ve got your papers in place.

10) Bring friends and/or family on your travel PICU jobs. Clinical One will still cover your expenses, but you’ll have to pay the difference for any other travelers.