Any School Nurses?

KellNY, RN · May 1, 2007

There's actually a whole forum for school nurses. :)

Flare, ASN, BSN · May 1, 2007

I came to a cross roads in my career a few years ago - i applied for a pd position as a wound care nurse and i also applied for a part time position as a school nurse. The school position was in a school with a handicapped population. I didn't get the wound care job - was filled before i even applied - but i did get the school nurse job. I loved it. Was a lot more than bandaids and boo-boo's and lice checks. A few years later i took a job in a public school.

As a school nurse you are essentially by your self - though some schools do have clinics with 2 nurses in it. And sure there is the day to day minor injuries, but it is also being part teacher. Not a day goes by that i don't reinforce some sort of health lesson - whether it's reminding the middle school students that skipping breakfast can make them feel ill or teaching the kindergarteners about proper handwashing. Also part of the emergency planning team. Responsible for state mandated paperwork, keeping student records up to date (and that means documenting every time they come in my office). My day is far from boring. Hope this helps -pm me if you have specific questions.

txnurse317 · May 1, 2007

After being a clinic nurse for almost 13 years I am starting a new job next Monday as a school nurse. I'm VERY excited. I know it will be a huge change from what I'm used to. I look forward to working with the kids and to having some diversity in my days as I seem to get into a rut here quite often.

Jinny

Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN · May 1, 2007

When I did my clinical rotation with the school nurse I was very surprised at how busy she was all day. The bulk of her work seemed to be giving kids asthma meds and ADD meds. There were some cut fingers and scarped knees too. She also helped the diabetic kids manage their insulin. While I was there she did a learning assessment on a little girl who wasn't keeping up with the rest of the class and found that she was developmentally delayed.

This nurse also worked weekends in a pediatric ICU to keep her skills up. Her knowledge was impressive.

I think what appealed to me most was the independence with the job. Also no lifting, and if you have to lift someone they only weigh 60 pounds.

It's not for me though. I'm not fond of children. But I think it would be a great job for someone who loves working with children.

luvschoolnursing, LPN · May 2, 2007

I've worked as a school nurse for the past 5 years after nearly 20 years med-surg. I love it. We do much more than "bandaids and lice". If you're interested in school nsg, one of the best things you can do is get in touch with one of your local school districts and get on their sub list. Once you are there, if you like it, you can talk to the other nurses in the district and see what your state requires to become a school nurse. In PA, I had to have my BSN, complete additional classes for school nursing, get certified by the state and then get an additional 24 credits to be permanatly certified-a lot of work if you don't really like it. I think in school nursing, you really get to build relationships with students and their families. It is a great feeling to watch a 6 year old learn and become independant with her diabetes. You help kids get through panic attacks, parents divorces, trouble with classmates and bullying. You are the only medical person in the building or maybe several buildings, so you need to be confident and competant. You will probably make signifigantly less money than you can in the hospital but the rewards are well worth it!!

paxlax · May 29, 2007

I want to become a school nurse. When I get out of nursing school (if I get out of nursing school:wink2:haha) The only thing I am scared for are children that fake sick. You hear all these stories of children faking sick just to go home and watch TV. I don't want to be one of those nurses. I want to be liked, but I also want to be able to send the fakers back to class.

luvschoolnursing, LPN · May 29, 2007

Once you do it for awhile, you know who the frequent fliers are. Often they are the kids that just need a break from class and come down and talk to you. If I have a real chronic complainer that insists on going home all the time, I usually talk to the parent and suggest a doctors appointment be made for a work up on "Johnny's constant stomachaches" or "Susie's constant headaches" Sometimes that stops the visits or sometimes the parents do take the child to the Dr and come back with a dx of acid reflux or migraines or something.Sometimes the parent just gets mad at me. Whichever, I know I did the best I could.

Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN · May 29, 2007

I want to become a school nurse. When I get out of nursing school (if I get out of nursing school:wink2:haha) The only thing I am scared for are children that fake sick. You hear all these stories of children faking sick just to go home and watch TV. I don't want to be one of those nurses. I want to be liked, but I also want to be able to send the fakers back to class.

Oh my gosh! When I did my school nurse clinical I would say 90% of the kids we saw were faking sick. I thought it was so cute! It was so funny to see them trying to make a face that would make us feel sorry for them. They were just trying to get sent home or just wanted to take a nap in the sick lounge. I noticed that the later it got, the fewer kids we saw, mostly because it was getting close to the lunch and they wanted to stick around for that. After lunch we hardly saw anyone because it was really too late to try and get sent home.

I wouldn't worry about it. You'll figure out what to do about it. As the above poster said, you'll get to know the frequent flyers fairly quickly.

luvschoolnursing, LPN · May 30, 2007

One of my favorite "fakers" was the 4th grader came in c/o "a really bad bloody nose" He had colored his nose and the tissue with red marker. How he even got the teacher to let him out of class with that one was beyond me. I let him stay for 15 minutes just for the creativity.