All School Nurses

I work in a high school with about 1,000 kids. This is my 3rd year there. Prior to that I worked as an assistant to the school nurse in an elementary schools. I liked that job so much , that is why I went back for my BSN and School Nurse Certification. I have been a nurse for 24 years total. The job is stressful, but it is the best job I ever had.

I love the friendship and advice I receive from my Allnurses friends!

Hello, I am glolilly. I work at a high school in Texas. I have been a school nurse for 5 years and a RN, BSN for 23 years. I love being a school nurse and don't miss the hospitals one bit. Flu has hit our schools pretty hard and has kept me busy from daily board reading. I have been lurking in the evening about once a week. I enjoy the discussions and information gathered here. It is a place to share a common interest and give feedback. Welcome old and new school nurses!

hi
My name is Carol, i am in CT. i have been a RN for 2 months and a school nurse for almost the same. I am in a prk-8 school, and I LOVE it. I am learning so much everyday, and every person I have come in contact with so far has been awesome. I thank God everyday day for blessing me with this job!

I worked as a school nurse in 4 states, half of that time in early childhood special ed. I also taught school nursing at 2 universities at the graduate level.

My acute background is almost all Children's Hospitals: CHOP, Oakland California, and taught undergrads at Children's in Buffalo and U of MN. I also worked in Quality Improvement in both acute and ambulatory settings.

I live in Chicago Illinois.

I have run SCHLRN-L, the school nurse listserv, since 1994. It is the 3rd oldest nursing Internet Discussion List. I started it as a grad student due to my isolation in my school nurse role and my need to find information I needed to practice. It was independent until 2008 when the U of Buffalo no longer would host it on their server. It is now one of the National Association of School Nurses 12 Internet Discussion Lists. There are 2000 subscribers. It is the only NASN list that non members can join: http://lists.nasn.org/listinfo/schlrn-l

I met Brian Short, who owns AllNurses at a Nursing Informatics meeting in Minnesota. At one time I moderated this forum and pediatric nursing and camp nursing.

Hi I'm Kimberly from Southern Illinois. I have been a school nurse for over 4 years to a community school district Pre-K through 12. I am the only nurse for around 700+ students. I absolutely love my job and the people I work with. It is EXTREMELY different from my backgrounds which include surgery and ICU. I enjoy the challenge and the wide realm of nursing that this job allows me to incorperate.

My name is Marcy. I started working in a private (pre-K - 8) school in Virginia this past March. My previous experience has been in Geriatrics and Oncology Research so this was quite a change for me! I love this website and all of the good advise.

Ok guys, this is one of the area's of nursing I am interested in... How do I go about being a school nurse? Is RN or BSN what I need? Pay?

Hi! I'm lovepink and this is my first year as a school nurse!! I am at an elementary school and I love it... almost all the time lol. The teachers can be a little frustrating, as can the parents, but the kids.... I LOVE them!! And its so different than any other nursing job I have had

Hi Everyone,

I signed on as a sub nurse last year-mainly to go on field trips for the diabetic kids when their parents couldn't go. My daughter has had type 1 for 4 yrs now. I've worked in the hospital setting for 17 years now-last 8 down in radiology where I work part time. the field trip nurse didn't really pan out. only went on high school kids field trips. My dd would just hate it if I tagged along on her field trips.

I have been thinking more and more about being a full time school nurse. subed in clinic last year a couple of times and it was ok-it was alittle disorganized.

but the clinic I was in today was so organized. made things so much easier for me. I was in a middle school today. the kids were really nice. parents well.....I can see how they can make your life hard.

I'm going to try it again. I think maybe I could see myself in this role. It is so hard thinking of leaving your work family though. I am exhausted at end of day. but today I wasn't tired and I got off at 3pm.

LVN versus RN with or without BSN will depend on your state and individual district. My district hired RNs with their BSN. Other districts in my area hire LVNs who work under one main RN for the district. There are many other arrangements. Pay is generally lower than the hospital setting, but not too bad. You likely will not be paid based on experience, and you may get paid along the teacher's pay scale depending on the district. Although annual pay may be lower than you can expect in the hospital, keep in mind that you get all summer off, and holidays and breaks as well. You generally work fewer hours per day as well. Once I calculated my actual hourly pay rate and it was higher than it would have been in the hospital, although my annual is lower. Many school nurses I know have a second PRN job to help make ends meet. Good luck!