Easy job?

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I am sitting here getting ready to start my week and can't get a conversation out of my head. One of my DH's friend's wife is an LVN and former school nurse. She works in home health now. They came over this weekend and we started talking about nurse stuff. She mentioned how nice it must be to have an easy nursing job like school nursing. My initial thought was to respond "if it was easy for you, you weren't doing it right", but I bit my tongue. Actually I just kinda laughed it off and said something like "not at my school!", then changed the subject.

It made me think a lot about my job, it's demands, and the perceptions of others. I can honestly say that my job is less physically demanding than many nursing jobs. But, is that the only measure of hard/easy? I can also honestly say that my job is more emotionally demanding than my prior hospital or other nursing jobs. It is difficult when a child comes to you with problems like abuse, death in the family, or divorce. All you want to do is take the pain away and that is the one thing you cannot do. The frustrations of parents who do not behave in a manner that we would deem appropriate also take a toll. It would seem common sense to keep your phone number updated, would it not? Not in my school. Students that need glasses and never get them (despite the FREE vouchers I hand out like candy), the uncontrolled diabetics whose parents never answer the phone, the ones you have to fight with to have them keep testing supplies, or catheters, or whatever in your office...I could go on (as you all know). This all takes an emotional toll, specifically because we care so much, perhaps to a fault.

Another aspect I thought of is how intellectually demanding my job is. There are limited resources and great need, so I need to be creative to get things done. I am the only healthcare provider on site, so I must have excellent assessment skills, and there is no one to back me up or to bounce ideas off of. In an emergency, I cannot slap on the O2 and call a code team or rapid response. I am the code team or rapid response until EMS arrives! My skills have to be top notch, and I have to be prepapred at any moment for anything, from a teacher collapsing to a new student enrolling with muptiple medical issues and procedures. Even during the down times, this job keeps me on my toes because I have to be constantly prepared to handle anything that walks through my door.

So, I guess my response to her should have been that my job is less physically demanding than the other nursing jobs I have had, yet it is more emotionally and intellectually challenging. This was just my experience, of course, your mileage my vary

Whew. If you stayed with me through that, bravo! I just have to get that off my chest. Anyone else have thoughts on the hardness or easiness of school nursing?

[rdsxfnrn]

depends on what day it is. i agree with you 100%...... :)

[tewdles, RN]

You have an autonomous nursing job. They can be extremely rewarding but equally demanding.

You should take pride in the work you do and know that it is decidedly not EASY.

Thank you.

[luvschoolnursing, LPN]

It's not easy, but it is different. I think I find it easier because I enjoy it. I felt continually frustrated at the hospital and didn't feel like I made a difference. I get much more job satisfaction here. I have about 150 kids scheduled for ht/wt/vision screening tomorrow, so by tomorrow afternoon, I may have a different response!

[mustlovepoodles, RN]

I would agree with you, school nursing is a very demanding job all its own. Sure, we're not working night shift for 12hrs, running like maniacs from one trauma to another but as you say, the emotional and intellectual demands are tremendous. There is no way I could have done this job as a younger nurse--I simply didn't have the broad pediatric education that you HAVE to have to do this job well.

My last school was a horror--900 students, urban-type setting, lots of dysfunctional families, lots of foster kids, guns, gangs, drugs, pregnancy. And this was in a middle school, ages 11-14 I can't begin to tell you how hard this job was, how stressful. I routinely saw 65-75 students/ day and in pollen season it would go as high as 130/day. It was relentless; nobody can work at that level for a long period of time. I burnt out so badly I thought I would never want to work as a nurse again.

Now, after a year off, I'm about to take a new job working in a small neighborhood elementary school with about 300 students. I'm sure there will still be the "same" parents who never answer their phone, who don't see that their kids get dental work or medications, who send their kids to school sick with fevers and rashes. But hopefully I won't have the extreme social issues that I had before. Hopefully the administration will be glad to have me and will support me in my work. Hopefully i will have time to concentrate on preventative health education with students and staff.

In general, hospital nurses have no idea how non-clinical nurses function in the outside world. It's easy to become myopic in that setting, as if the work you're doing is the only important work there is. I don't try to defend my choice of work to anyone, but simply point out that every job has its cruddy parts as well as it's highlights. Anything that can happen at home or in an ER can happen in school. School nurses have to have a very broad & deep bank of knowlege to draw on. And nerves of steel

[Artistyc1]

"DH's friend's wife is an LVN and former school nurse. She works in home health now. They came over this weekend and we started talking about nurse stuff. She mentioned how nice it must be to have an easy nursing job like school nursing..."

If it was SO easy, why did she leave it? Also, as an LVN, is it possible that her responsibilities were not as demanding as they are for you, as an RN?

[tewdles, RN]

"DH's friend's wife is an LVN and former school nurse. She works in home health now. They came over this weekend and we started talking about nurse stuff. She mentioned how nice it must be to have an easy nursing job like school nursing..."

If it was SO easy, why did she leave it? Also, as an LVN, is it possible that her responsibilities were not as demanding as they are for you, as an RN?

not just possible, probable...

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

I think that was a big part of it. I also think a little of it is jealousy, because I know that she tried to get a job in another district closer to home (she lives in the country like me, but could not deal with the commute, and the nurses at the rural districts hold onto their school nurse positions!) She subbed for a year but could not make ends meet so had to take a home health job.

Still, the comment bothered my beyond belief!

[abreezies]

That is funny that she would say that......i worked as a home health nurse before I became a school nurse. In my opinion, the only thing easier are the hours I work and the fact that I don't have to spend almost my whole entire day on the road. Sure I don't draw blood on a weekly basis, but I still case manage, evaluate and treat! I still deal with doctor's office and family members and medication administration. It is sad that when you find something you absolutely love.....you get paid telemarketer wages and sometimes it seems like your co-workers are glad you are there- only because they don't have to worry about getting sick from someone who vomits (at least in my case).