Charter School Nurses

k1p1ssk, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2019

I haven't done this, nor do I plan to, but for my area (W.Mass), I'm going to guess that there is a higher rate of un- or under-vaccinated children and a higher rate of "alternative medicine" types sending their kids to these schools.

However, if I think about more urban settings and families I've known who would fight tooth and nail to get their kids into a charter in the urban setting, my guess would be a "tougher" set of kids, who are maybe a bit more well adjusted?

I interviewed for a school nurse position several years ago for a "virtual" charter school, and that position would have been waaaaaay different, as most of the kids were either so behaviorally challenged they had been kicked out of every other brick and mortar school they'd attended, OR they medically couldn't be out in public (immunosuppressed in some way or another, or needing so much 1:1 nursing care it would be nearly impossible to make it through a regular school day).

Sorry, I know this isn't really relevant to your question, but I would think the Charter would have to follow the same regulations as a public school, but the "clientele" may be different!

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2019

In the NTX, a lot of charter schools don't have an RN. If I'm lucky, I can get vaccine info from a heavily-overworked-but-pleasant LVN. If not...it's the registrar or counselor. And I find it odd, because charter schools are supposed to do things the same way public schools do, no?

Guests · Jan 23, 2019

I'm in MA in an urban Charter. We are a Public Charter so adhere to all the same regs as regular MA Public schools. Our kids have all the same issues are their non Charter neighborhood counterparts, no difference because it is a Charter. My admin is WAY more student focused than the regular public schools in my district. They go above and beyond for our families.

Keeperofbandages, LPN · Jan 23, 2019

I am in Fl, we are a public charter as well. We follow same regulations and rules as the other Public Schools. I have noticed that we have alot more parents on campus and our admin is more student focused than any other school i've worked at. I have also noticed how the parents are ALOT more picky on some things.

CanIcallmymom, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2019

I'm an RN at an NTX charter school. Same as public school regarding vaccinations. They have to be UTD on first day of school (or on the CDC catch up schedule) or have blue, notarized exemption form; if they don't have these things, we exclude.

CanIcallmymom, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2019

I have never worked in public school setting, but I imagine it would be much the same.

Keeperofbandages, LPN · Jan 24, 2019

17 hours ago, CanIcallmymom said:
I have never worked in public school setting, but I imagine it would be much the same.

As far as state requirements yes we follow the same, however I have noticed that more parents want to be called for every little thing and that there are more complex cases in a Charter School setting than a public school setting.

CanIcallmymom, BSN, RN · Jan 24, 2019

58 minutes ago, Keeperofbandages said:
As far as state requirements yes we follow the same, however I have noticed that more parents want to be called for every little thing and that there are more complex cases in a Charter School setting than a public school setting.

You are right about that, for sure. Another thing is we get kids from all over, some live 30 minutes from the school or more... Sometimes that can make pick up a problem, because they work 30-1hr in the opposite direction.

KeeperOfTheIceRN, ADN · Jan 24, 2019

Public charter school nurse here, in NETX. We, too, follow the same state requirements as the public schools as far as vaccinations and medication administration. I haven't worked in any other kind of school setting, but from my experience at my son's school, parents are much more involved and present here. We also aren't required to have a SHAC, which is nice. We do have a Design Team though, which is kind of the same thing, but not as involved as a SHAC. We also don't serve lunch. Every student has to bring their own lunch everyday. This is because we release earlier than the other schools in our area (2:15 pm), so we opted to serve just breakfast. Our teaching models are different as well. We do Project Based Learning so the students are usually moving all over the campus doing hands on assignments. Lots of scavenger hunts done here where they have to follow the clues at various locations. You also won't see students sitting at desks all day. They're constantly up moving around the room or the campus applying their topics to real life situations. Lots of group learning done here.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Jan 24, 2019

On 1/23/2019 at 10:20 AM, MHDNURSE said:
I'm in MA in an urban Charter. We are a Public Charter so adhere to all the same regs as regular MA Public schools. Our kids have all the same issues are their non Charter neighborhood counterparts, no difference because it is a Charter. My admin is WAY more student focused than the regular public schools in my district. They go above and beyond for our families.

Also in MA at a Public Charter and same as MHDNURSE. I follow all the same guidelines as a regular public school. I'm licensed with the Department of Education, went though same hoops with paperwork.

Our vaccination rate is pretty awesome, even for the vaccinations that aren't required in my state, like HPV and meningcoccal. I feel like charter schools get a bad rap, but in my state, that rap is unwarranted. We have a lottery system to get in, but anyone is welcome; in fact ~25% of our student population has an IEP or 504 plan and we have a growing number of students who are English Language Learners (and have a full time EEL Director with staff to help them).

My boss isn't a nurse, but is our family relations Director and actually is great at helping me get things for kids that need them - including arranging transportation to and from doctor's appointments for families that need them and won't be able to take their child to the doctor without them.

My hours are longer than non charter public school nurses though. I work 7:30-4:30 and when I was a longer term sub in public district, I worked 8-2:30. But I really enjoy working at a charter school. I get to teach health here, including comprehensive sex education with full support of admin.

OP, PM me if you want.

Amethya · Jan 28, 2019

Nope, same as a public school. I'm in a Public Charter School, we go by the same rules as other schools do, just have MAs and LVNs.