Not a real nurse huh?

[kkrlaa5512]

I have to get something off of my chest. I'm a new grad and my only nursing job has been as a school nurse. I started as a sub for the county and will be moving into a full time position. I could not be happier. When I was in school I had all of these great clinical experiences in the OR, ER, ICU and med surg and I loved my mother baby and PEDS rotations the best. I had every intention of pursuing a hospital career of some sort (I had already worked in acute care at a large hospital as a CNA for a couple of years in med surg). As soon as I started subbing as a school nurse something just clicked. It all fell into place. I cannot imagine doing anything else. All the other options I had considered just dissolved. I love caring for children who may not have someone to care for them. I am so sick of hearing comments about this not being as important as hospital nursing. Well I guarantee 80% of the nursing population has a school aged child and where would they be without us? I don't think people realize what school nurses actually do. True it's a lot of bandaids and ice packs and tummy aches. But its more than that. Kids need a little TLC and some of the children I care for have SEVERE medical problems. People don't realize that we do alot of acute care with these kids. Tube feedings, breathing treatments, med pass, and we deal with emergencies. I don't think alot of community members grasp how ill alot of these children that their "healthy" children go to school with. I believe we are the most important kinds of advocates in caring for defenseless children. I also can't remember a time when a hospital nurse was responsible for the care of almost 1,000 human beings BY THEMSELVES! Sorry just a little rant there :) and thank you to those I know who do understand and appreciate my choice in a career.

[ccweisbard]

Just wanted to say that as a hospital nurse in the past and now an informatics nurse that I am super grateful for my children's school nurse. Between asthma, epilepsy and all the major and minor booboos she has been amazing to and for my children!! So thank you to ALL school nurses that are there when we cannot be!!!!

[Wrench Party]

Even though I want to go into hospital nursing, I will come out and say I envy those of you in non-hospital settings,

with your relatively normal hours, different style of care, and working with different populations.

Maybe once I get tired of the hospital gig, I'll seek other opportunities.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Here is a test to see if you are a real nurse:1. Did you go to nursing school?2. Did you pass the NCLEX?3. Do you have a nursing license?4. Does the job require 1, 2, & 3?If you answer yes to all the above, you are a real nurse. Case closed!

This!^^^^!!!!!Could not have said it better myself!!!

[GinginRN]

A nurse is a nurse is a nurse! We all trained and passed the NCLEX, so whichever field of nursing we chose, we are all nurses!

[NurseDirtyBird]

Yep, I know how this goes. I have never wanted to go into acute care, and that was reinforced by clinicals in nursing school. I work in LTC and love it, but my heart belongs to Hospice. I'm working on getting there.

Any time I tell people this, they ask me, "Don't you want to work in a hospital?" It seems they think I'm "settling" for a career in LTC and Hospice, because I couldn't cut it doing "real nursing" in a hospital. They can't seem to wrap their heads around the fact that nurses do different things in different places, but are all essentially nurses.

You have to walk the walk to understand. Most people don't know diddly about nursing.

[WoosahRN, MSN, RN]

It's not hard to see why the public has no idea what nurses do when our own profession doesn't understand or respect different types of nursing. I think we are all biased to our own personal strengths or department but we need to be careful to not let that affect how we view other nurses and departments. Most people would be blown away by what nurses do (and I'm sure we as nurses would all be humbled if we switched departments or environments). I've always thought that it would benefit a hospital (for example) to have their staff spend a few shifts in each department so that we can at least get a small glimpse into what each other does to all help patient care. We all need each other whether inpatient, outpatient, community health, etc.

Congratulations to you and to anyone else that has found their niche within your career. Majority of people cannot say that. I'm grateful for my job and am constantly in awe of what I get to do while people go about their everyday lives. I have had multiple family members say they had no idea what nurses did until they needed us. Sad that that's how they had to find out, but I understand and am grateful that there is one more group of people out there that can educate others and emphasize how much we actually do.

[nursetaminator]

I have such fond memories of our school nurse. She was loving, caring and to some degree part of the reason I wanted to be a nurse. Don't understand why some people or their positions are looked down upon or not thought highly of. We all have our place in this world and all contribute as nurses, no matter where we practice, to ensure people are taken care of. And that care involves people in their homes, people at school, at work, in hospitals, and so on. I don't have kids but I know I'd be grateful for a nurse at school to take care of my child if they needed it.

You just keep doing your thing knowing you are a REAL NURSE who is greatly appreciated!! It's always refreshing to see someone doing a job they love. :)

[NurseJKV]

the best thing about being a nurse is that there are soo many different areas that you can go into. Congrats on finding your area of nursing that makes you happy as a nurse! :)

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

I have no idea why there are those that say only "real nurses" work in hospitals. So not true. "Real nurses" work in many different venues. I am happy that there are nurses who enjoy working in LTC, NICU, Peds, OB. Those are nursing jobs I have no interest in. I wish our schools had a nurse. I don't ever remember having a school nurse. I remember if I got sick in class I would go see the secretary and she would call my mom.

I think school nurses are greatly needed. I am happy that you found something you love OP.

[somenurse]

I have not read the 4 pages of posts above me, but, i might be seen as a 'real' nurse, yet, i'd be highly intimidated to even try to be a school nurse!! (i'd be fired within a month for obvious incompetence, ha ha)

I am not uptodate to field any vaccine questions (that has always kinda intimidated me, i strain to keep it all straight in my mind, even the vaccine charts confuse me a bit, AND it's always changing all the time)

and I do not know enough about peds or flus or ped illnesses or meds or what types of screening should be done on kids, etc, i don't know any of that stuff. Imo, school nursing is a specialty area, with it's own body of knowledge, and i do not know that stuff, at all.

I am intimidated by school nursing, which is why it is one of the few areas i've never ever worked!! GOOD ON YOU for being a school nurse! And yes, you ARE a real nurse!!! watching over our nation's treasure, it's youngest!!

When i was a parent of school age kids, i was always comforted to know they had a school nurse there!! who i viewed very much as a 'real' nurse,

as did all the other parents!! Never heard of anyone not thinking a school nurse is not a "real" nurse, but, i strongly disagree!!!

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Don't let it get to you. No matter what nursing specialty and setting that you are in, there will be someone on this earth who will declare that whatever specialty/setting it is is not "real" nursing. Even in the hospital setting itself, specialities will slag off other specialties.

You became a real nurse the minute you passed the NCLEX and they handed you your RN or LVN license. What you do and where you work won't change that. And no one's opinion can ever take that away from you.

If you are happy in what you are doing, that is all that matters.

[ChristineAdrianaRN, BSN, RN]

I agree with all of the above, and would also like to add that one thing I admire about school nursing is that you're pretty much on your own. Hospital nurses have their fellow nurses and charge RNs and even doctors to bounce ideas off of and ask questions. When I worked on the floor, even the seasoned nurses would frequently run things by the other nurses and get feedback before doing interventions. You have NONE of those resources as a school nurse! It's all you, baby! That sort of autonomy and critical thinking, especially with a population of school children with more and more complex chronic issues, takes not only a real nurse, but an EXCELLENT one. They're just jealous. Promise. (and I am hoping to start doing some substitute school nursing soon)

Also, sugarcoma had it exactly right about the same dynamic happening no matter what kind of nursing you do.

Keep doin' the damn thang, yo.