$12.81 an hour - RN School Nurse

[DelanaRN, MSN, APRN, NP]

So, I have a telephonic interview for a school nurse position next week. I am excited about the prospect of an interview, although having it telephonically is most definitely not ideal. However, due to my being over a thousand miles away from the school (preparing to move to the state the school is in later this month) impedes my ability to be at the interview personally.

Anyway, I digress. I have only been an RN for one year. Prior to that I was an LPN for one year. Even further back than that I had an associates degree in business and meandered from job to job making about $12 bucks an hour until I went back to school for nursing.

I worked as an LPN as an on call Hospice Nurse full time while attending an accelerated RN Program (21 college credit hours a semester). Upon completion of my RN, I was promoted to Hospice RN Case Manager. My husband is in the Army, so we are relocating to Georgia from Missouri later this month. My current rate of pay is about $52,500 of year...alas, that job ended last Friday as we declutter, have a huge yard sell, prepare for packing/moving, etc.

I have a little boy (soon to be Kindergartner), 2 boys going into the 7th grade, and an 18 year old.

The position is for elementary school nurse, and it is an hourly, not salaried job. As much as I think I could enjoy the job and especially the days/hours of said position, I honestly don't know if I can afford to seriously even consider it. $12.81 an hour? Seriously? When I expressed interest in the position the head nurse over all the school nurses in the district sent me a pay table. When I saw that hourly rate, I contacted her to verify it was not an hourly rate based on a salary pay of 40 hours a week/52 weeks a year, so that one might be compensated during the summer months, but an actual hourly rate. Indeed, that is the hourly rate and the school nurse position only works 180 days a year. My personal calculation yielded about 16-17k annually. I have over 50k in student loans, a house in Missouri with a mortgage we can't unload, and $1400 a month rent on the house we will be residing within in the state we are relocating to.

On the upside, I can take my little kindergartner to the school I could potentially be school nurse at, and be home when the kids get back from school and in the summer...visit my family in Kentucky with increased frequency, which would be a huge blessing, and prepare for our final return move back to KY in two years upon my husband's retirement from the service.

I don't know that I have a question exactly. I haven't even had the interview or been offered a position...so it's rather premature I guess to venture into the world of "what if's".

However, is this rate of pay normally what one might expect as a school nurse?

If so, how do you get by financially? Do you PRN/moonlight at hospitals nights, summers, and weekends?

I wouldn't even consider it with the debt I currently have, but I truly enjoyed my days shadowing school nurses in clinicals and with a young family and my husband's VERY erratic work schedule, the stability and regular hours would be greatly appreciated and very grounding and stable for the children.

Any information you can offer would be wonderful. Please!

[bergren]

"$12.81 an hour? Seriously?"

No, they are trying to get something for nothing. That is not a serious salary and I would say it gives you a heads up as to how much they respect nursing services.

That is an insulting salary for a registered nurse. Tell them you are interested, and to call you back if they reconsider the pay scale.

Don't tell them anything about your personal expenses. They are irrelevant. It is simply not a market rate salary for an RN.

Good grief, baby sitters get $10 per hour. My son's dog walker gets $9.00 per hour.

[TwilightRNurse]

I realize that school systems don't pay well but $12.81 is a disgrace. You could make far more doing a dayshift private duty case or home health intermittent visits.

[copperkali]

That is about what a CNA makes...

[mustlovepoodles, RN]

No way! Can you even live on that with 4 kids?? I haven't made $12/hr since 1985~!

[caliotter3]

When some CNAs can make $18 or $20 an hour, something is wrong with that picture. That is in the range for CNAs that work in nursing homes, and most of them make around $14 an hour. I would look elsewhere. I can see $20 or $24 being the low range for an RN, but $12 is ludicrous.

[luvschoolnursing, LPN]

Unfortunately, schools want to save money anywhere they can. If they can fill the position for $12.81/hr, they will. I worked as an assistant nurse before I got hired as a Certified School Nurse in my school-I made 15/hr-the position required an RN. Summers were hard with no pay, so was Christmas break. It's not fair, but like I said as long as they can get people to do it, mostly young moms or retired nurses, they will.

[bunsterj]

I started at 12.44/hr in a hospital in 1982! I worked as a school nurse in a small town a few years back and in 1998 I was making 12.50/hr...it was considered low for a school nurse then and very low for a nurse. I took the job for the reasons you stated, but my income was a supplement to my husband's, and was not depended on.

[skoolrn, BSN, MSN, RN]

I started at $13.75 an hour as a new grad in ICU in Arizona in 1991!! I now live in Massachusetts and make close to $30/hr... I think you should hold out for something else!

[caliotter3]

This just reminds me of the starting wage for those who work at In'N'Out Burger, well known for its attractive beginning pay rate for fast food workers. I believe they have increased their pay to $12 an hour, if I'm not mistaken.

[caliotter3]

I just looked it up, even at the stated $10 an hour for new hires, InNOut Burger is competitive with that school nurse job. Just a little less, for less responsibilities.

[Jolie, BSN]

In my area, school nurses start at about twice that salary.

I'd never tell another person what to accept or not accept, but I would not work in a professional capacity for that amount.

School health assistants in our area make about that much per hour. They are non-health care professionals who undergo first aid, CPR, medication and other specialized health training and work under the direction of the nurse and certified education staff. It sounds as if your district is trying to get a licensed professional for the cost of a non licensed assistant.

I may get flamed for this comment, but I think the problem with nurse pay in some districts is the multiple methods of entry into nursing practice. Teaching requires a minimum Bachelor's Degree, so teachers start out on a consistent pay scale commensurate with that education. Since nurses can enter practice with an Associate's Degree, some districts justify placing nurses on the same pay scale as the para-professionals whose positions require an Associate's Degree.

That ignores the level of professionalism, licensure and independent practice of the nurse, but since so few educators and tax payers understand those concepts, these hiring and pay practices are common.

Best of luck in your decision.