Adult or Child Nursing?

When I leave sixth form I'm planning to do nursing in order to get into the post graduates course once I've finished but I'm torn between Adult nursing or Child nursing.
Although in my culture (for some reason) nursing is looked down upon i'm committed to helping others before starting a post graduates course in PA studies and maybe Children's nursing may be easier (not that it will be) but I'm torn. No one wants to have to do jobs they don't want to do within the healthcare setting but it may be easy if it's with children?
So, which ones pros weigh out the cons?

When I leave sixth form I'm planning to do nursing in order to get into the post graduates course once I've finished but I'm torn between Adult nursing or Child nursing.
Although in my culture (for some reason) nursing is looked down upon i'm committed to helping others before starting a post graduates course in PA studies and maybe Children's nursing may be easier (not that it will be) but I'm torn. No one wants to have to do jobs they don't want to do within the healthcare setting but it may be easy if it's with children?
So, which ones pros weigh out the cons?

Hello,
Is the PA study physicians associate? I want to give you some advice first and foremost before providing my input on adults vs children nursing.
I entered nursing fresh 18, out of sixth form. I was very naive in thinking passion would drive me and fund my living through the never-ending cost of living crisis we seem to be in. I hadn't paid for any bills, no household contributions, etc- or at least for the most part.The most I would pay for was my phone bill, some small grocery shops for the house and everything else was basically luxuries. Now, whilst you are studying the course you will be expected to put the course first- this will be said to you. The course comes first before your job, your family and sometimes even yourself. The course is split into university/theory work and placement/clinical experience. You will have a few months focussing on theory work and exams, and then 4-8 weeks placement (the sign off in the final year is 12 weeks). This varies uni-to-uni but that's the general gist. Depending on your trust and uni, sometimes you will get your rota very late, like day before you're due to come in. Now when you're working you will be expected to do the whole 12 hour shift, (getting signed 11.5 hours regardless of anything), days, nights, weekends, bank holidays. This is a full-time working experience, you will be working 3-4 days a week. On your days off you may feel like you just want to bed rot, or you're struggling on choosing whether to socialise with friends or catch up with household chores- oh yeah and then preparing for placement. Making sure you uniforms ready, foods ready, minds ready. Having a paying part-time job is not impossible but you essentially will be working the entire week which is crazy to think about. You may be able to get a £5k grant but it is nowhere enough what you need to live, especially if you are planning on studying in London. You don't get reimbursed for travel (only special conditions of travelling like 1hr 45 mins extra to what you normally would is our condition in my uni). Can't get in due to strikes? Don't care, swim, run, make a ship and boat it. they are ruthless about attendance when it comes to strikes.
And when you're finally finished- oh wait it doesn't finish. You don't learn half the things you need as a starting nurse when you're in uni. You learn the most used clinical skills like ivs, cannulations, lone working, and other specialised skills when you are a newly qualified nurse. this training can range from 1-2 years. if you're out of London you're starting is around 28k, which is so rubbish for the amount of work you are meant to cover. Being a nurse is difficult. Its not all medical. And genuinely I would advise people against it for the time being as the government clearly doesn't value us nurses. giving us a 70p pay rise- only recently allowed to strike. When you forget about the negatives, like pulling change to cover the travel to get to and fro placement, or how tired you are, or how much your back hurts even though you're only 20 years old- yes you see the beauty in the body, in sickness and in health. The body is an admirable thing and it will compensate and compensate and show you signs that things aren't right before it gives in.
Now. To children or not to children's, that is the question.
I am going to be a children's nurse. I am to receive my pin soon (which you have to pay for by the way- the costs don't end). When I went into it, I didn't have any experience truly with children apart from a short-time playing/interacting with them. But I knew I liked them and found them cute enough that I wouldn't mind the poops and vomits. If this is something you're scared of, I assure you you will learn to handle it.
Working with children is not all smiles, not all babies and children are accepting of strangers. We have these magical people that work with us- play specialists. They do everything we dream of doing, being able to really connect with children and that too, making it seem so easy. Very admirable. So play specialists help us get through to children better (bc as much as they emphasise building rapport with your patients there are a lot of things to be done and you will be questioned and shamed on why you haven't given a certain medication or procedure on time over whether or not you connected with the child) and are able to also explain common procedure to children like using teddies to explain cannulation and ngt insertion. Having a child patient doesn't negate the fact that you will still require consent to carry out cares or that you can get away with not explaining something to them.
With children's you will have to deal with family too. This can come in many different forms: same-sex parents, single parents, foster parents, grandparents, siblings. You may also have to work around restraining orders, DV and much more safeguarding concerns. You don't only care for the pt, you care for their family. Sometimes children nursing is referred to as family nursing- bc the family unit is so heavily involved you have to consider them all the time. Making sure parents are eating and taking care of themselves, to telling them to care for their child. Sometimes parents would expect us to do everything for their child and neglect their parental responsibilities when at the hospital- uncomfortable convo telling them they still have to change their kids nappies.
Yes you do get to cuddle the babies if you have time! However, wear an apron and wipeable shoes bc you never know which ends contents will come onto you. They are very cute, and babies are a lot more forgiving and will forgive you for the procedures you put them through but some children (who have multiple admissions) grow a fear of nurses and doctors which will make simple observations so difficult to carry out- of course not the kids fault!
Deaths- I think no matter the age, deaths hit the same for me. Same with the realisation that a child has a difficult condition to live with. I think of patients, old or young, as the person they were, the person they are and the person they will be- I believe I'm indiscriminate to the age debate. Its hard hearing or seeing anyone die. You can say that an old person dying is easy bc they've already lived their whole life, but you could say the same to a dying baby who has not experienced anything - so are they really missing out? I have recently had two patients that I looked after pass away. Both under a year old. One was sudden and one was withdrawal of life support. Due to life events I feel like I got in touch with what grieving and bereavement feels and looks like to me and so I was able to deal with it, but support is available- just sometimes at the cost of you missing placement hours and having to make it up later.
You also deal with teens. I like to say they're easy bc they listen to you and don't care for much convo, etc. Some do, but most don't. However, they are terrible with taking medications, checking bms at home, etc. so you will have to chase up and have convos surrounding peer pressure, making things seem less cringy or embarrassing bc their lives literally depend on them taking care of themselves. Teens are very close to adults. Their vitals are the same as adults.
So children can be easy bc they have parents to help with cares, understanding their children personalities- but this isn't always guaranteed bc not every parent is a good parent or knows how to parent (you may need to teach new parents how to do things). You work with premies- 18 years old and sometimes even adults (special cases). I feel like you learn how to take care of every age range so if you take care of children you are able to take care of adults (in emergency situations).
Now bc my uni completed screws us over, we had to do an adults placement (as children nursing students) and the horrors we all faced there oh goodness. To be fair it was a new environment to us, a lot more busy- I'm sure you get used to it when you start there. There are more uncomfortable scenarios, dealing with criminals, sleazy men, gropers, racists, etc. They are also able to do real damage if they hurt you. Conditions that commonly affect the old like dementia are heartbreaking. Seeing peoples lives be stunted at any part of adulthood is hard. the manual handling is a lot more heavier.
If you do adults it is easier to do go abroad and practice in any as they specialise as just nurses (typically focussing on adults) and then provide ward training.For some reason adult nursing makes other routes easier like gp nursing. Less training required compared to a children's nurse.
Just don't do nursing. It is not nice tbh. it is draining and you lose your passion fast when you are worked like a dog as a student. Anyways, I hope what you want happens! Good luck

while i can appreciate that you are trying to shine light on the struggles of nursing and where it lacks, this is an incredibly negative view. i also came into my nursing degree freshly 18 and in similar circumstances to you - i am currently managing just fine in my final year. my biggest problem with what you have said is your final sentence - please don't scare people aware from something they are genuinely interested in. this profession needs people to be dedicated and passionate and things like this kill that. it should be decided by the individual whether or not they want to do nursing. yes, nursing is difficult and the course is rather life consuming, but nonetheless i love what i get to do for patients.
op - it is very important to take into consideration what this poster has mentioned - they're very raw about it. but nursing is very rewarding as well as it is taxing. please don't be scared off of it