All School Nurses

About the screening problem.. in our district...we all help each other screen. I am not sure how many other schools are in your district, but it sure is nice to have the help and be able to help the other nurses. Plus it is nice to all be able to get together.

I graduated from nursing school a year and a few months ago, and I am a brand new school nurse..but I am LOVING it so far! The other nurses in my district are WONDERFUL nurses. As you know, you don't get formal training or orientation... use the other nurses in your district as resources. They are invaluable and should be more than willing to help in anyway possible!

My name is Judy and I have been an RN for 34 years and a school nurse for 19 years. I have currently been the only nurse at our high school serving 1700 students for 16 years. It has been the best and most rewarding job I have every had. I work in Illinois so I am state certified but am dealing with a school board who now after 30 plus years has decided that certified school nurses need to go. They want to hire RN's and place them on the teacher assistant scale and pay them a mere pittance. There are 6 of us in my school district so keep us in your thoughts as we negotiate a new contract.

Hi! I am AZNurse5 (aka Sara)! This is my first year as a school nurse. I work at a K-8 school and love it so far. I was pretty much thrown into the position, so I am still trying to figure everything out (immunization reports, screenings, etc.) All the advice on the different threads has been great and has basically gotten me through the 1st couple months of school nursing.

Have a wonderful day!!

Hi Everyone,
I'm mamajapko (aka Becky). I am a LVN here in Texas and I love school nursing. I started last year as a school nurse. Before this job I was working in a psych hospital and a cardiac unit at another hospital. This job allows me to use all my skills and develop new ones to deal with administration , the kids and the parents . I work in a school with high school students who are at risk for dropping out. I love being able to provide the students with care and education regarding their health and emotional needs. Some of them are a challenge due to their family history or psychological problems. I don't get to the this board as often as I would like because I'm pursuing my RN by taking my prereqs. When I get my RN, I plan to return to school nursing. I think it's the best nursing job for me!

I am a new school nurse in North Texas. This is my first school year with a full-time assignment. I subbed last spring semester. I previously worked nights in a CCU. I never felt like I was doing enough or making a big enough impact on the patient's outcome. I got really burned out and decided to do something different.

Boy, is this different!!

I manage a clinic for an elementary school of about 850 K-5 students. I also have a class of LIFE skills students including trachs, g-buttons, etc. I like it most days, but there are still some doozy's. When I feel down, if I have time, I look on here and lurk. It makes me feel better that there are other's who are just as irritated at the teachers and parents (and occasionally the students) It makes me feel normal. The nurse comaradre (sp?) is what I miss the most about the hospital.
Thank you guys and gals.

Hi Everybody,
I am a school nurse at a high school that has a mother-baby program. We have about 1400 students and around 60ish pregnant teens. I was the only nurse here for the first year and a half but now there are two of us full time. During that first year I would have to get someone to come into my office so that I could go to the bathroom. (The bathroom is inside my office) Forget eating lunch. That was unheard of. I have been here for three years. I simply love every minute of my job. This is an inner city high school. The kids are fantastic. True enough they have adult problems at a young age and the females have enough drama going to write a screenplay....but I feel every day like I have made a difference in someone's life. Mostly what I do is counseling and guidance but I love it. I laugh at the ridiculous parents after I hang up the phone or after they leave my office. This is the best job. I am off for every holiday and if I wake up and the wind is blowing too hard or the weather is bad I know there will be no school and I can stay home and still get paid. If I need extra money I can pick up some extra work somewhere but I have learned to live on what I make and if that's not working then its time to downsize. It is comforting to hear that other nurses did not get any orientation or guidance as to what to do when they started working. I thought I was the lone ranger. I want to create some type of nutritional education and breakfast club for my pregnant teens because their nutrition is very, very poor. I am looking for some suggestions from other nurses on how to structure something like this. I write grants for a hobby so I'm pretty sure that I will be able to find funding sources but I need some ideas on how to structure a program like this to take place in the mornings before school and to provide healthy snacks during the school day. It's nice meeting all of you and learning about your working environments.