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i don't believe they can.. i think because a LPN cannot do a inital assesment .. and being a school nurse requires a degree,, as a RN would have... all the school nurses i have worked with in the past have been RN's..i do know 3 school nurses now.. one is a RN , ADN and 2 are RN BSN's... i have 6 kids so through the years , school nurses and i have gotten to know each other very well..lol...
It varies by state and by district. Some districts (especially smaller ones) do hire LPNs who work under an RN (there may be one for the whole district or several who oversee things). Other districts require an RN. Some even require a BSN, a School Nurse certification, or a teacher's certification! If you are interested, look into the districts in your area and see what they require. Good luck!
In my area, LPN's can be "substitute" nurses under the oversight of the district RN or can be working in a school that has an RN also. Some of our city high schools use NP"s and then it makes sense that the other nurse(s) could be LPN's. A lot depends upon where you live, not just state, but area within the state. Schools prefer BSN nurses if available because some schools have the nurse teach health classes, etc.
My mother worked as a school nurse while being a LPN. I worked as a CNA for a school that only had a nurse that parttime. So guess who was doing assessments, giving meds and etc ? I was.... we had a very structured policy and my boss was only one call away if ever I saw something that was way out the norm. So some places have LPNs some have RNS some health cnas with RNs in the building partime.
All depends on what state you are in, each state has a Nurse Practice (Scope of practice) here in AZ, LPNs can be school nurses, but the pay is horrible, its about 15/hr to start.. RN start at 20 I think..
One of the school districts in my area was only paying $8/hr for school nurses! Sad isn't it?
KIMYNURSE2B
204 Posts
Can a LPN be a middle school Nurse 6,7, & 8th graders?