School Nurse? Help?

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I was wondering if anyone could help me...

I'm currently finishing up my Associate Degree in General Education Teaching at local community college and now I wanting to future my education to School Nurse. My questions are:

1. What do you have to have be a school nurse? (BSN, RN, LPN)(other certifications)

2. Would my Associate Degree in Education Teaching help me for my future career or do I need further my teaching degree?

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You could get a bachelors in teaching. Most require a state certification as well. Others master degrees. An associates in teaching may get you a job as a teacher's assistant. Or in a private pre-school program.

If you are serious about nursing, then I would go on to get a bachelors in nursing after the associates. Schools in my area require a BSN for school nursing. An assistant nurse can be an ADN or LPN, depending on if your school hires assistants. However, in my observations, a assistant nurse spends a great deal of time 1:1 ing a child with special needs. However, a ta does that as well.

I would go to some of your local schools, speak to HR and see what is required in your area. The best thing about your associates is that all of your core gen ed classes are probably completed. Now to fine tune.

Good luck!!

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

It depends on the state. Several states require a BSN and post BSN graduate level credits and certification as a school nurse plus working experience as a nurse.

Other states RN is minimum qualification.

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Specializes in Pedi.
I was wondering if anyone could help me...

I'm currently finishing up my Associate Degree in General Education Teaching at local community college and now I wanting to future my education to School Nurse. My questions are:

1. What do you have to have be a school nurse? (BSN, RN, LPN)(other certifications)

2. Would my Associate Degree in Education Teaching help me for my future career or do I need further my teaching degree?

I'll be honest, I didn't even know there was such a thing as an Associate's Degree in Education. In my state you need a Bachelor's to teach and you must earn your Masters within a certain number of years.

To answer your questions:

1. This depends on the state. In my state you must be an RN with a BSN and you must get a separate school nurse license from the Department of Education.

2. I don't see how either would help you. If you want to be a school nurse, you need to focus on nursing not education.

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I'm in NY, in western NY state to be exact. You need a Master's degree to teach in NY, plus all the certifications. That was what I thought about doing originally, way back when, but there are hardly any teaching jobs to be found, and that's a lot of time and money to waste to not even get a job.

To be a school nurse here, you actually "only" need a ASN (associates) in nursing. Many prefer a BSN though. And to clarify, having your BSN just means you're bachelor's prepared; you're still an RN. A BSN and an ASN prepared nurse are still both RNs. And LPN is a different type of nurse and license.

I have a non-nursing BA degree (in political science/legal studies) and an ASN, and I'm pretty sure having a bachelor's degree is what helped me get the job over some of the other applicants.

There are school nurse-teachers and they make more because they can teach health class too but a lot of districts here are phasing them out for just a regular RN. My district has the SNT at the elementary level to teach health and then at the middle school and high school (me!) are regular RNs. I am considered instructional staff though and I'm in the teacher union.

We have no separate training, certifications, or licenses. All states are different though, some vastly different so it really depends on where you live. honeslty, an AS in Education won't help you much, even for just teaching, because I think everywhere requires at least a BA/BS degree to teach. I would focus on nursing more if you want to be a school nurse because becoming an RN is a huge commitment and that's what you would be first and foremost - a nurse - if you were to become a school nurse.

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Thank You ya'll for your help! I appreciated it!:)

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I'm a School Nurse Teacher in NY so I am an RN, BSN and I have taken additional courses in education to get my School Nurse Teacher certification. This allows me to teach Health class which I do for K-6 now. To get permanent School Nurse Teacher certification I need to get a masters degree in Nursing or in Education.

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I'm a School Nurse Teacher in NY so I am an RN, BSN and I have taken additional courses in education to get my School Nurse Teacher certification. This allows me to teach Health class which I do for K-6 now. To get permanent School Nurse Teacher certification I need to get a masters degree in Nursing or in Education.

I'm a new school nurse in NY and just curious about what the process is to be a SNT. I have an ASN and a BA in a non nursing field. What kind of class/certifications do they actually have to be a SNT? I really have no idea. I don't need to be a SNT for the school I'm at, but I'm really just curious. TIA if you see this and can answer!

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For provisional certification in NYS you need: a Bachelor's Degree (I am not sure if that needs to be in Nursing or not), 6 credits in Pedagogical Education courses, RN license, child abuse workshop (I didn't still have proof of getting for my RN license so I had to take it again), School Violence Intervention and Prevention workshop and fingerprint clearance. Then within 5 years you must get your maters degree (in Nursing or Education) to get your permanent certification. Hope that helps.

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Specializes in kids.

In NH ADN is accepted but BSN is preferred by many districts. I also have my masters in Health Care Admin (on teacher scale so that was helpful $$$wise)

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For provisional certification in NYS you need: a Bachelor's Degree (I am not sure if that needs to be in Nursing or not), 6 credits in Pedagogical Education courses, RN license, child abuse workshop (I didn't still have proof of getting for my RN license so I had to take it again), School Violence Intervention and Prevention workshop and fingerprint clearance. Then within 5 years you must get your maters degree (in Nursing or Education) to get your permanent certification. Hope that helps.

Just wanted to clarify this is for a Provisional Certificate as a School Nurse Teacher in NYS not the requirements for being a School Nurse. I was responding to that question above but didn't want it to confuse anyone. Sorry.

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thank you for the info! I could do provisional cert but there's really no incentive for me to do it, as they don't need me to be a SNT at the high school level. And I wouldn't make that much more money from this district for getting my Master's - but would spend an awful lot of money to get the Masters (i'm already swamped in all my undergrad student loans too!). I would love additional education though, I always thought I'd get my Master's degree, so I kind of feel sad when i think that I probably won't. Years ago, before the state required a master's within 5 years to teach, this district used to pay for most of a teacher's masters degree, not the case at all anymore!

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