The path to a career in pediatric cardiac nursing can differ drastically. Case in point: Kate Dixon, a cardiac staff nurse at CHOA at Egleston Pediatric Hospital. Upon graduating college with a sociology degree, Dixon stepped into the IT world. This found her handling business intelligence project management, the softer side of her skill set falling by the wayside. Later on the idea of going back to school for nursing popped into her head. She says she thought it would give her the chance to combine the soft side — human psychology and sociology — with the hard science of nursing. After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 2013, she has done just that.
Q.: What drew you to cardiac care?
A.: While I was in nursing school I absolutely loved the physiology of the heart, so it was pretty much a match for me to go into cardiac care. I was on a telemetry unit during a clinical rotation as a student. I really enjoyed that. And everything kind of matched up together to come into cardiac care at Children’s.
Q.: For a new nurse about to enter the world of cardiac care, how important is networking?
A: Just like in any other career path a lot of it is who you know in a network. That doesn’t change with nursing. That’s why I think it’s so important as a student that you find time to have a clinical rotation and get to know the people who are working on the floor that you potentially might want to work with. Or you can get to know other nurses and care providers in the cardiac care field, because that may be a place were you might can get a job interview. I think it’s really great to check things out as a student, because you can understand the dynamics of a floor and everything that’s going on around you. That way you can determine if it’s going to be a good fit for you when you’re done with nursing school.
Q.: What do you like most about your job?
A.: It’s a challenge every day, and that’s the greatest part. You walk into work and you never know what to expect. Whether that means kids saying things you don’t expect or parents asking questions that maybe you haven’t heard before, it always keeps you on your toes and it’s always a challenge.
Q.: How does a nurse best prepare him or herself for the cardiac field?
A.: You have to be prepared for situations that are difficult to handle as a nurse. I hate to say you’ve got to be ready to deal with anything, but you do. This comes from any nursing perspective. You have to know what questions are going to be asked by a family or a patient. Also you have to be prepared for anything that could potentially happen to that patient. When you’re working in a critical care field, you’ve got to have your eyes open to everything that’s around you. And you’ve got to be prepared for changes to occur very quickly and be able to react quickly to those changes.
Q.: What’s the toughest part of your job?
A.: I’ve had numerous jobs. I was a producer for a TV show in Connecticut. I thought the transition into nursing would be easy, because I had transitioned into different careers in the past. But it was much harder than I thought. I think it’s because you have to learn a lot. No matter what you learn in school, there’s so much on-the-job learning that is so valuable. It’s all about the balance between the family and the patient, the care and the critical thinking. It goes back to the soft science and the hard science. You have to combine both together in order to provide great care. And that’s really, really hard to do.
