Any School Nurses out there who travel abroad every yr during the summer?

MotherRN · Aug 22, 2013

I would love to do this if I could find the money!

Nurse ABC · Aug 22, 2013

Hahaha! Travel abroad-I WISH!! Seriously, I really wish I could! Certainly don't make enough money to do that. Maybe if I had a rich husband (then I probably wouldn't be working anyway) or if I didn't have any kids or a husband maybe. I did hear of a teacher once that traveled every summer and she's been to some amazing places but she's single and older so she's had time to save money and doesn't have to worry about anyone else. I spend my summers taking care of my three kids, taking them to sports practices, do some home improvement and organization, take little trips with my husband and kids, and just enjoy the extra free time that I don't get 10 months out of the year to relax. Do you have kids? I just can't imagine anyone that has kids asking that. I could spend the entire summer doing nothing but laundry and cleaning if I was so inclined-there's just always so much of it!!!

bella201 · Aug 23, 2013

Hi Nurse ABC; No I don't have kids. I'm not a nurse yet but hopefully when I do become a nurse I'll have the opportunity to venture into school nursing somewhere down the line and have enough money to be able to travel abroad every year. School nursing is my dream job since I'll be able to be work with kids all day and I love that it is rather routine and love that I'll have summer's off! I hope that during those summer's off I'll be able to travel every year! A girl can dream!

Nurse ABC · Aug 23, 2013

School nursing is great for all those reasons but we make teacher pay or less. That's the downside. Maybe go to a teacher's forum and ask if they do. I know some teachers can by teaching/guiding a group of kids in different countries so they get paid for traveling abroad which would be neat!

MotherRN · Sep 1, 2013

I think with a 'savings jar' for the yearly dream trip, you probably could travel-especially if you aren't paying for multiple people to go, like I would have to with a family. I bet you could get it done! the pay isn't that miserable if you live within your means. More power to you!

I would tell you, however, that getting into the school nursing job can be hard. I live in a tri-county area. One of my main counties only takes BSN's with 5 years or more in pediatrics. I am luck that in my county, I slid in to position because I was a frequent substitute at this school and went to my last clinical in nursing school with the school nurse who held the position before me. Without these two factors, I may not have been able to get started as soon as I wanted.

It's a great job to have. I have so many ideas running through my head for health promotions I would like to bring to the school. It feels very creative and less monotonous than I thought it would.

Go for it!

bella201 · Sep 12, 2013

Hey MotherRN, thanks for the idea of the "savings jar" I'm going to start saving! I don't know why that idea never came to my head! Oh yes I know getting hired in school nursing is hard that's why I hope during nursing school they offer a clinical in community health with the opportunity of doing the clinical in school nursing. And then perhaps get offered a position. They are not that common though. I'm also thinking to volunteer as assistant for the school nurse during nursing school maybe that will help me get the job. I'm also thinking of working in peds or nicu first before going into school nursing. I'll be going for my adn first then my bsn as I know it's even harder to get a job in school nursing with just having the adn or any other job in the nursing field now. It's not just happening in the nursing field but in many other job industries as well where they are requiring advanced degrees in order to just qualify at potentially geting the job. Those who have a BS must look to getting a masters, those with a masters in a job industry must now look at getting doctorates in order to qualify and so on. As if getting a higher degree than what they already have, makes someone better at doing their job. Not necessarily.

But on a better note, thanks for your idea! Any other ideas or recommendations for landing a job in school nursing? Or traveling every year?

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Sep 12, 2013

Landing a job as a school nurse as a new grad is exceedingly difficult... and generally not recommended. I can't imagine doing the job as a new grad. I worked as a part-time school nurse for the last year and a half and I found that it actually hindered my ability to travel. I'm not doing it this year. In my other jobs, I can take off whenever I want (leaving for Peru on Monday) but in school, you have to abide by THEIR schedule since you don't get vacation time above and beyond the school breaks. And everything is more expensive during school breaks and in the summer.

bella201 · Sep 13, 2013

Hi KelRN215, u said that you worked part-time as a school nurse last year; I'm just curious, how did working as a school nurse hinder your ability to travel? How is it that in your other jobs you are able to take off whenever you want? Do you work for an agency or PRN where u work for a certain required amount of time and after you are done u can take off for weeks at a time? Is it because of seniority? What are those other jobs that u are referring to? Other specialties?

Or was working as a school nurse hindering your ability to travel because of the fact that traveling during school breaks and in the summer is more expensive?

Sorry for all the questions if u can elaborate I would really appreciate it, Thanks!

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2013

Hi KelRN215, u said that you worked part-time as a school nurse last year; I'm just curious, how did working as a school nurse hinder your ability to travel? How is it that in your other jobs you are able to take off whenever you want? Do you work for an agency or PRN where u work for a certain required amount of time and after you are done u can take off for weeks at a time? Is it because of seniority? What are those other jobs that u are referring to? Other specialties?
Or was working as a school nurse hindering your ability to travel because of the fact that traveling during school breaks and in the summer is more expensive?
Sorry for all the questions if u can elaborate I would really appreciate it, Thanks!

At most hospital jobs that I have seen new grad RN's that are working full-time start with a minimum 2 weeks vacation time a year. However, when you are only working 3 12hr shifts a week, you can sometimes make trips work in such a way you don't need any time off (ie. Work Sun-Tues one week and Thurs-Sat the following week). Many of my coworkers only use PTO if they want an extended time off greater than 2 weeks.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2013

Hi KelRN215, u said that you worked part-time as a school nurse last year; I'm just curious, how did working as a school nurse hinder your ability to travel? How is it that in your other jobs you are able to take off whenever you want? Do you work for an agency or PRN where u work for a certain required amount of time and after you are done u can take off for weeks at a time? Is it because of seniority? What are those other jobs that u are referring to? Other specialties?
Or was working as a school nurse hindering your ability to travel because of the fact that traveling during school breaks and in the summer is more expensive?
Sorry for all the questions if u can elaborate I would really appreciate it, Thanks!

Because when you are working in a school you don't get vacation time beyond the times when the school is on break. So the only options to travel are over Thanksgiving, Christmas or Spring break which severely limits your options.

My other jobs have been hospital and case management/home health. With both jobs, I earned/earn 6 weeks of PTO annually and there were no or very few restrictions as to when I could use it. One of the major benefits of working in a hospital is the ability to be creative with your hours. One year I went on 5 international vacations and only used PTO for 3 of them. And even then, I went to Italy for 10 days while only using 24 hours of PTO. If, say, you travel Wednesday to Wednesday you can easily work Sun, Mon, Tues the week you leave and Thurs, Fri, Sat on the week you come back and not have to use ANY PTO.

ETA I just see that Christine has provided the exact same example I did about vacations with no PTO. :)

bella201 · Sep 14, 2013

Hi ChristineN, I'm not sure if I'm reading you right but is vacation time the same as PTO? Or are they different? So is PTO only used when one wants more time off aside from whats been already allotted to them in vacation time?

Like the example above, RN gets 2 weeks off in vacation time but lets say they want more time off so then the RN uses their PTO for more time off? Am I understanding right?