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Children's Nurse
(Paediatric Nurse, Paediatric Staff Nurse, Children's Staff Nurse, Specialist Paediatric Nurse)
Health & Social Care
Salary
€35,000 - €68,000/yr
Level
Professional
Outlook
Growing
Sector
Health & Social Care
What does a Children's Nurse do?
As a Children's Nurse you provide specialist nursing care to infants, children, and adolescents across a wide range of acute, chronic, and community settings. Your daily work involves assessing patients' conditions, administering medications, monitoring vital signs, and carrying out procedures tailored to paediatric needs. You collaborate closely with paediatricians, allied health professionals, play therapists, and social workers, while also supporting and communicating with parents and families who play a central role in a child's care. Children's Nurses work in settings such as Children's Health Ireland (CHI) hospitals, community health services, neonatal units, outpatient clinics, and specialist paediatric units covering areas like oncology, cardiology, and emergency care.
A Day in the Life
Listen: a day as a Children's Nurse
You arrive on the ward at Children's Health Ireland at 7:30 am for the morning handover. The night staff brief you on each patient using the hospital's electronic patient record system. You note that one four-year-old post-surgical patient had a disturbed night, a teenager with cystic fibrosis needs her physiotherapy coordinated, and a toddler is awaiting discharge pending a final review from the paediatric registrar. You take a moment to read through the updated care plans before the day begins in earnest. By 8:00 am you are doing your first set of observations: temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation on each child in your bay. You record everything directly into the electronic system. Administering morning medications follows, and you double-check every dose against the prescription chart with a second nurse present, as paediatric drug dosages are calculated precisely by weight and any error carries serious risk.
Videos about Children's Nurse
Communicare Paediatric Nursing
Communicare Healthcare
Required Education
Entry to Children's Nursing in Ireland typically requires completion of the BSc in Children's and General Nursing, an integrated four-year honours degree programme offered at universities and technological universities including UCD, TCD, UL, and TU Dublin, among others. Leaving Certificate subjects that strengthen your application include Biology, Chemistry, and Maths at Higher level, as well as strong grades in English and other science subjects; minimum entry requirements are set by individual institutions and CAO points for this programme are generally competitive. The degree combines both children's and general nursing strands, equipping graduates to register in both divisions. On graduating, you must register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) before you can practise; NMBI maintains separate registers for children's nurses and general nurses. Postgraduate study at NFQ Level 9 is available for nurses who wish to specialise further, for example in paediatric critical care, neonatology, or advanced nurse practice. Some nurses enter via a general nursing degree first and then pursue postgraduate paediatric specialisation, though the integrated route is the most direct pathway.
Required Skills
Career Perspective
Most newly registered Children's Nurses begin at Staff Nurse grade within CHI hospitals, the HSE, or voluntary hospitals, rotating through different paediatric wards and specialties to build broad clinical experience. With a few years' experience, nurses can progress to Senior Staff Nurse and then Clinical Nurse Manager (CNM) roles at CNM I and CNM II levels, taking on supervisory and ward management responsibilities. Specialist roles such as Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) or, with further postgraduate study at NFQ Level 9 and significant clinical experience, Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) offer highly autonomous practice in areas such as paediatric oncology, diabetes, or emergency care. Some experienced nurses move into education, research, or health service management, while others pursue community or public health nursing pathways.
AI Impact on the job
AI-driven clinical decision-support tools are beginning to assist Children's Nurses in recognising early warning signs of deterioration through automated analysis of vital sign trends and patient data, potentially improving patient safety on busy wards. Administrative tasks such as documentation, scheduling, and discharge planning are increasingly supported by digital health systems, freeing nurses to spend more time in direct patient care. However, the relational, hands-on, and emotionally intelligent aspects of paediatric nursing — comforting a frightened child, supporting a distressed parent, or making nuanced clinical judgements at the bedside — remain firmly human-led. Nurses who develop digital health literacy alongside strong clinical skills will be best placed to work effectively alongside these evolving technologies.
Career Ladder
→ Children's Nurse (Current role)
Related Studies
Employers in Ireland
Organisations in Ireland that employ people in this occupation.
Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght, Connolly – Dublin
Ireland's main paediatric hospitals employing the most children's nurses
Nationwide
Community and acute paediatric nursing roles across all HSE regions
Galway city
Paediatric wards and neonatal unit serving the west of Ireland
Cork city
Regional paediatric and neonatal services requiring specialist children's nurses
Dooradoyle, Limerick
Paediatric unit serving the mid-west, including emergency and acute care
Navan, Co. Meath
Children's nurses provide acute paediatric care in a regional hospital
Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare
Nurses deliver specialist therapeutic recreation care for seriously ill children
Leopardstown, Dublin 18
Children's nurses provide palliative and respite care for life-limited children
Nationwide
Community children's nurses support disabled children and families at home
Dublin and nationwide
Primary care paediatric nursing roles across community-based GP practices
Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Tralee
Private hospital group with paediatric wards requiring registered children's nurses
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