Pediatric Nursing Specialties And What They Pay

If you went into pediatrics to work with kids and families, a subspecialty is how you grow from there. It deepens your skills and usually raises your pay. Below are 24 direct-care pediatric specialties open to registered nurses, with what each one does, a typical salary, and the certification that signals expertise.

A note on the numbers: these salary figures come from Payscale and ZipRecruiter estimates from late 2022 and early 2023, so treat them as ballparks, not precise current pay. Local market, setting, and experience move them more than the specialty alone.

The route into nearly every specialty below is the same: an ADN or BSN (employers usually prefer the BSN), an RN license, then direct experience in the specialty before you sit for certification. What changes from one to the next is the work, the certification, and the pay.

24 pediatric nursing specialties

1. Postpartum nurse ($108,896, ZipRecruiter). Cares for newborns alongside physicians, lactation consultants, and nurse midwives; runs newborn assessments, monitors vitals, and coaches parents on feeding and care. Certification: maternal newborn nursing (RNC-MNN) or electronic fetal monitoring.

2. Endocrinology nurse ($116,103, ZipRecruiter). Manages children with endocrine conditions like type 1 diabetes, growth hormone deficiency, and hormonal imbalances; teaches families to manage chronic disease day to day. Certification: certified diabetes educator.

3. Cardiac nurse ($88,650, Payscale). Works with cardiologists and surgeons to care for children with chronic heart conditions, including advanced cardiac life support. Certification: cardiac vascular nursing.

4. Pediatric intensive care (PICU) nurse ($78,339, Payscale). Cares for critically ill children and postsurgical patients who need close monitoring and complex equipment; reports changes fast. Certification: CCRN (Pediatric).

5. Travel nurse ($81,010, Payscale). Takes temporary pediatric assignments where staffing is short, often in emergency or critical care, switching sites every few weeks. Usually needs two years of experience first. Certifications: CCRN (Pediatric or Neonatal), CEN, RNC-MNN.

6. Dialysis nurse ($78,751, Payscale). Delivers dialysis to children with kidney disease or failure and manages fluid and electrolyte balance. Certification: certified dialysis nurse or certified nephrology nurse.

7. Surgical nurse ($79,035, Payscale). Cares for children before, during, and after surgery as a scrub nurse, circulating nurse, or RN first assistant. Certification: certified perioperative nurse (CNOR).

8. Oncology nurse ($79,895, Payscale). Administers treatment and provides support to children with cancer; can subspecialize in pediatric hematology oncology for blood cancers like leukemia. Certification: oncology certified nurse (OCN).

9. Infection control nurse ($76,940, Payscale). Prevents and manages infectious disease in children, including RSV, COVID-19, and influenza, and educates staff and families. Certification: certified in infection control (CIC).

10. Pediatric case manager ($76,691, Payscale). Builds and coordinates care plans, tracks progress, and keeps families and the care team aligned. Certification: nursing case management.

11. Post-anesthesia care (PACU) nurse ($78,679, Payscale). Monitors children coming out of anesthesia and manages the aftereffects. Certification: certified post-anesthesia nurse (CPAN) or certified ambulatory perianesthesia nurse (CAPA).

12. Critical care transport nurse ($82,787, Payscale). Moves children between settings, from stable transfers to emergencies, giving medications and advanced life support en route. Certification: CCRN (Pediatric).

13. Emergency room nurse ($75,188, Payscale). Triages and treats children for everything from high fever and allergic reactions to trauma and chronic-disease crises. Certification: certified emergency nurse (CEN).

14. Neuroscience nurse ($75,002, Payscale). Cares for children with neurological conditions like seizures, head injuries, and brain tumors, alongside neurologists or neurosurgeons. Certifications: certified neuroscience registered nurse (CNRN), stroke certified registered nurse (SCRN).

15. Forensic nurse ($73,290, ZipRecruiter). Cares for children who have been abused, documents findings, gathers evidence, and supports families through the legal process. Certification: sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) or advanced forensic nursing.

16. Neonatal intensive care (NICU) nurse ($73,316, Payscale). Cares for premature and medically fragile newborns, tracking oxygen, vitals, and daily infant care. Certifications: neonatal resuscitation, CCRN (Neonatal).

17. Rehabilitation nurse ($72,202, Payscale). Helps children with chronic illness or injury regain independence, setting goals and advocating at the individual and policy level. Certification: certified rehabilitation registered nurse (CRRN).

18. Palliative care nurse ($70,919, Payscale). Provides comfort and end-of-life care for seriously and terminally ill children, with a focus on pain management and family support. Certification: certified hospice and palliative nurse (CHPN).

19. Respiratory nurse ($70,453, Payscale, all RNs). Works with children who have breathing problems like asthma; performs respiratory procedures and manages ventilators, sometimes in the NICU. Certification: CCRN (Pediatric or Neonatal).

20. Psychiatric nurse ($70,289, Payscale). Delivers mental health care to children in community or one-on-one settings; helps build care plans and educates families. Certification: psychiatric-mental health nursing.

21. Labor and delivery nurse ($70,159, Payscale). Provides the first nursing care for newborns and teaches parents before postpartum nursing takes over. Certifications: inpatient obstetric nursing, electronic fetal monitoring, low-risk neonatal intensive care nursing.

22. Home health nurse ($68,697, Payscale). Cares for children at home after hospital discharge or in hospice; monitors vitals, manages wounds, and trains families. Certifications: wound, ostomy, and continence nurse (WOCN); pain management nursing.

23. Developmental disability nurse ($62,463, ZipRecruiter). Supports children with intellectual and developmental disabilities on motor, communication, and nutrition needs, and advocates for them. Certification: intellectual and developmental disabilities nursing.

24. Ambulatory care nurse ($70,580, Payscale). Cares for children in outpatient settings: exams, vaccinations, histories, and family teaching. Certification: ambulatory care nursing.

Across this list, the highest earners are pediatric endocrinology and postpartum nursing, which says something useful: pay tracks specialized, certification-backed expertise more than the unit you choose. Pick the population and pace you want to work with first, then let the certification follow.