school nursing

I too thought of school nursing. Then I did ONE day at a middle school for agency. Wow what an eye-opener. That one day made me realize that school-nurses need that 10 week vacation to recover. The school had 300 students (one whole grade was at a field trip). I had:

78 pts that included:
Three sprained ankles
15 kids on Ritalin
One kid came in for his meds as he was an chemo pt with a
a brain tumor.
At least 20 kids came in for a "breakfast bar" because they felt faint and had no breakfast.
6 Asthmatics that could not go out for recess
2 diabetics in for their routine bs checks
Splinters
Busted lip during soccer game
A kid with a cast that complained of pain under it
A kid who fell backwards of the monkey bars and complained of back pain
Menstrual pain
Just not feeling good but no temp, they want tylenol and a throat lozenge.


On top of this I had to call parents about the sprained ankles etc and I got cell phones, secretaries, no answer. I got answers like how sick is he? He always complains about pain under his cast he just wants attention. I had a teacher call and scream at me because a kid wasn't in class as he was sitting in front of me waiting to go get his ankle x-rayed. That and restraining orders against certain parents, I had a list of about 20 kids that had these court orders.

This all happened in 6 hours. No bathroom breaks, no lunch. I couldn't wait to get out of there. As I was leaving the admistrators secretary told me I was lucky there were no true emergencies. Ha where would I have fit them in.

I am sure there is some positives to school nursing, I commend them in there job!

I am a school nurse in NYC and enjoy it immensely. You will be checking health forms and immunizations, giving routine meds(ritalin, insulin), and seeing an assortment or injuries and illnesses. Health teaching of staff, students and parents is essential. If you have the opportunity, observe at a variety of schools. Generally speaking the public schools are larger and so have more students in need of nursing.
The level of discipline and parental involvement also impacts on the type of visits to your office. I have been in schools that were out of control with @45 visits per day, unresponsive parents & teachers that don't care how much time their students miss from class. My current school is a small catholic school <200 students, excellent staff & involved parents. @10 walk-ins a day 3-4 meds & plenty of time for reviewing records and health teaching.
If your first school doesn't work out, ask for a different assignment and you may find a school that is a better fit for you.
You may also like to subscribe to a school nurse listserv SCHLRN-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
email them and ask to be put on the list. Good luck Val

I'm a nursing student .What inspire me to be nurse is the "courage".In my country, people doesn't have knowledge of what are the roles of a nurse. Most of them feels that a nurse is to perform personal hygenie and to do cleaning up for the patient. Some will think that this is a dirty job.On the other hand, some people feels that nursing is a noble job that requires courage.
Basically, nursing requires to be physically and mentally prepare.If you are working in hospital, it is a place where you are going to face life and death.Of course you'll feel happy when your patient is able to discharge from the hospital. Afterall, they"re under your care and you'll feel pride.For me to meet the criterial , i've to be both mentally and physically prepare but last not the least, "Courage".
So, the last decision is up to you. You can seek for many opinions but ask yourself ," Do i like nursing", "Am i prepared to take up the challenges". You'll definitely meet lots of up and down in nursing.So...Good Luck and All The Best.

School nursing? ehhhhh no idea.......Im sure like everything else.......pros and cons..........hopefully the pros carry more weight