Jobs and career pathways
NCLEX – Pediatrics jobs, salary benchmarks, and career pathways
Pediatric nursing is a practice setting rather than a separate licence, so the benchmarks below use the RN role the NCLEX licenses and the advanced-practice tier above it.
Updated August 23, 2026
Where this exam tends to lead
This cluster is oriented around related jobs and career pathways. The role targets below are the main search patterns this jobs page is built around.
This page is built around related job searches now, with room for richer direct-ingestion job feeds later.
Nursing salary benchmarks
Pediatric nursing is a practice setting rather than a separate licence, so the benchmarks below use the RN role the NCLEX licenses and the advanced-practice tier above it.
| Role / benchmark | Pay | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Registered nurses | $93,600 median annual wage | May 2024 figure covering all RN practice settings including pediatrics BLS Registered Nurses |
| Nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners | $132,050 median annual wage | 2024 figure; the tier pediatric nurse practitioners sit in, growing 35% from 2024 to 2034 BLS Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners |
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What the test plan actually says
| Fact | Current detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pediatrics as a category | Does not exist. The test plan is organized into four Client Needs categories and eight subcategories, none of which is a patient population | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
| Where pediatric content concentrates | Health Promotion and Maintenance (6–12%) carries growth and development and immunization content; Physiological Adaptation (11–17%) and Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies (13–19%) carry age-specific pathophysiology and weight-based dosing | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
| Per-exam variation | Content distributions on individual exams may differ by up to ±3% in each category, so no two candidates get the same pediatric load | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
| Exam length and time | 85 to 150 items with a five-hour limit that includes all breaks | NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, April 2026 |
| How the exam ends | Three rules: the 95% confidence rule after the minimum item count, the maximum-length rule that ignores the confidence interval and uses the final ability estimate, and the Run-Out-of-Time rule | NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, April 2026 |
| RN passing standard | 0.00 logits, effective through March 31, 2029 | NCLEX passing standard |
| Registration fee | $200 USD for U.S. licensure | NCLEX fees and payment |
Fetched job listings
These listings come from the latest automated jobs update run. If a board blocks or limits retrieval, use the live search links above.
6 listings captured
The Muse
Licensed Insurance Sales Representative (Remote / Home-Based)
Allstate
Flexible / Remote
The Muse
(USA) Tire and Battery Service Advisor
Walmart
Eau Claire, WI
The Muse
Café Associate
Walmart
Clive, IA
The Muse
Maintenance Custodian Associate
Walmart
Ellicott City, MD
The Muse
Retail Customer Service Associate
Walmart
El Paso, TX
The Muse
PRODUCE/CLERK
Kroger
Bowling Green, OH
Official resources
Read the activity statements under each Client Needs category and note how often client age changes the correct action.
Item counts, time limit, and the three exam-ending rules.
Current RN and PN logit standards.
External resources and benchmarks
Wage and outlook data across all RN settings.
Questions people ask before choosing this path
How many pediatric questions are on the NCLEX-RN?
NCSBN does not publish a pediatric count, because pediatrics is not a category in the test plan. Pediatric items are distributed through the Client Needs categories and vary from exam to exam by up to ±3% per category.
Should I study pediatrics as its own review block?
Studying it as an isolated block mirrors how nursing school taught it, not how the exam asks it. The exam presents a client of a given age inside a Client Needs context, so the more useful drill is taking a familiar concept and asking how the correct action changes for an infant, a toddler, and an adolescent.
Does a shorter exam mean I did badly on peds?
No. The exam stops early when the computer is 95% certain your ability is clearly above or clearly below the passing standard. A 85-item exam is as likely to be a clear pass as a clear fail, and it says nothing about any one content area.
What does the NCLEX-RN cost and how long is it?
Registration is $200 USD for U.S. licensure. The exam is 85 to 150 items with a five-hour limit that includes the introductory screen and all breaks.