I was just offered a position as a school nurse for a very large middle school, 1244 students in grades 5-8 and roughly 80 kids come through the clinic each day. I initially began looking for a new job because my current one requires day/night rotating every two weeks and not only am I not sleeping at all anymore, I cannot stay awake on the drive home at ALL. I drive 45 minutes and fall asleep constantly the whole way home. Night shift is also wreaking havoc on my heart with lots of palpitations and some arrhythmias. With that background, here are the pros/cons of each position.
School nurse:
Pros = Summers/holidays/weekends off, school day is 7:30-2:30, no more night shift or 12 hour shifts. I'd also be taking on a new challenge working with diabetic children (six in the school right now) and a special needs group of children with complex medical issues. We also take on a research project on a topic of interest to educate staff. on.
Cons = It's an hour commute, have to pay union dues, and slightly less pay at $47,000/year (but equal or more if you factor in only working 9 months out the year), working 5 days a week instead of 3, and I'd be giving up my fiance and my one day off together.
Bedside nurse:
Pros = Helpful coworkers, lots of clinical skills put to use, I get to work with babies, self schedule, potential for overtime, and I love what I do.
Cons = 45 minute drive to work including tolls and two major highways (bad when you fall asleep driving!), working 2 out of 3 major holidays, rotating days/nights every two weeks, falling asleep driving on the way home after every night shift.
I'd still stay at my bedside job per diem if I choose the school nurse job. So knowing all of the above, which one would you choose? My family is telling me to go for the school nursing position, but it's hard to pull the trigger when bedside nursing is all I've known and I always pictured myself as a bedside nurse. I'd love to get the opinions of fellow nurses. Thank you!
