Children’s Nursing

nurse checking child's blood pressure

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to the Children’s Nursing resources page.

Here you will find a range of resources to read and explore to understand what our academics are looking for in their students. It includes some skills you will require, some topics to think about, some recommended reading and some useful places to boost your knowledge.

So without further ado let's get started!

Skills we are looking for

  • Enthusiasm and commitment
  • A passion for babies, children, young people and their families
  • Some experience and understanding of children and/ or young people
  • An ability to care and be compassionate
  • Great communication skills across the age range and the families
  • Excellent observation skills e.g. to detect deterioration in a child’s condition or to recognise when a non-verbal child is in pain
  • Team working skills

A student nurse putting a heart monitor on a child mannequin

Topics to explore before you start

  • Consider gaining some experience with children and/or young people
  • Consider what transferrable skills you may have
  • It would be useful to start to develop your knowledge and understanding of:

  • The role of a children’s nurse
  • The different development needs of a child / young person
  • The NHS values and the 6Cs of nursing
  • The fundamentals of anatomy and physiology
two student nurses taking care of a child in a ward bed and taking her blood pressure readings

Recommended reading to prepare for university

  • Keep up to date with contemporary issues in relation to health and children in society today
  • Consider accessing an occasional copy of the journals: Nursing Children and Young People or Nursing Standard
  • Peate, I., and Gormley-Fleming, E. (2021) Fundamentals of Children’s Anatomy and Physiology. 2nd edn. USA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN:111961922X.
  • Gormley-Fleming, E., and Martin, D. (2018) Children and Young People’s Nursing Skills at a Glance. USA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN:1119078539.
a child nurse tending to a baby mannequin

Programmes to know

  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft  Teams
  • Zoom

Websites our academics recommend

National health Service Careers:

It doesn't matter whether you’re still in education, thinking about switching your career or already working in health, you'll get the information you need. You'll also find real-life stories and films of those already working in health.

Royal college of Nursing website:

The UK's largest union and professional body for Nursing. Whether you're a Nurse, Midwife, HCA, AP or student, you can get a huge range of benefits when you join the RCN.

Step into the NHS - A day as a children's nurse:

This provides a small insight into the role of a children’s nurse.

I Am A Children's Nurse:

This film was made by the RCN Children and Young People Forums.

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S RIGHTS IN HEALTHCARE – A SUMMARY:

Children and young people have rights to be supported in their health care and well-being, this document provides a summary of key messages.

Professional bodies to research

The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC):

The professional regulator for nurses and midwives in the UK, and nursing associates in England.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN):

The Royal College of Nursing is the world’s largest nursing union and professional body. They represent more than 450,000 nurses, student nurses, midwives and nursing support workers in the UK and internationally.

two student nurses comforting a child in a ward bed

Courses Herts offer

Interested in studying Children’s Nursing here at Herts?

Take a look at our undergraduate course below:

Still deciding which Nursing discipline is right for you? Have a look at our other undergraduate Nursing courses below:

Did you know that there are new government grants available from September 2020 for both new and continuing degree-level Health Care students?

Find out more about the NHS Learning Support Fund

Get a feel for studying at Herts

Contact us

We hope you all found these resources useful but we appreciate that you may have more questions.

If you have any questions regarding our campuses, facilities, accommodation or just general life here at Herts, you can contact current Herts students via Unibuddy.