Annual Salary
£25,654 to £39,026
Average UK salary in 2019 was £30,378
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Social care or Therapy or go back to all job sectors
Swap to Social care or Therapy or go back to all job sectors
Children's nurses provide care for children and young people with acute or long-term health problems.
Average UK salary in 2019 was £30,378
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; on shifts
There will be
6% more Children's nurse jobs in 2026.
In your local area
You may:
You may need to wear a uniform.
You could work in an NHS or private hospital, at a hospice, at a children's care home, at a GP practice or at a health centre.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
You can get into this job through:
You can do a degree in children's nursing approved by the Nursing & Midwifery Council.
Some degree courses let you study another area of nursing alongside children's nursing.
You may be able to join a nursing degree on the second year of a course if you already have a degree in:a health-related subject; psychology; life sciences; social work
Full-time courses usually take 3 years.
You'll usually need:
You could start with a nursing associate higher apprenticeship.
You may be able to do a degree apprenticeship in nursing if you work in a healthcare setting like a hospital.
The degree apprenticeship takes around 4 years and is a mix of academic study and on-the-job training.
You must be supported by your employer to take these routes.
You'll usually need:
You may find it helpful to get some paid or voluntary experience in healthcare, or working with children and young people, before you apply for nurse training.
You'll need to:
You'll find more advice about how to become a children's nurse from the Royal College of Nursing and Health Careers.
With experience you could move into a specialised area like:burns and plastics; child protection; cancer care; neonatal nursing; intensive care
You could also become a sister, ward manager or team leader. In these roles you'd have responsibility for running a ward or a team of nurses in the community.
Other management roles you could work towards include matron or director of nursing.
You could train as a health visitor, neonatal or school nurse, or practice nurse in a doctor's surgery. You could also become self-employed or work overseas.
With further study and experience, you could move into a nurse consultant position. In this job you'd work with patients to carry out research. You'd also develop and deliver training.
The NMC has more information on registering if you qualified as a nurse outside of the UK.
You'll need: