Credentials

SaltineQueen · Mar 3, 2020

I am not a CSN, it's not required in my state. I always say I'm a school nurse. I'm licensed as an RN, I don't feel the need to go into more detail. I would venture to guess that most people I know don't even realize that getting certified in school nursing is even an option.

ihavealltheice · Mar 3, 2020

We don't have "licensed school nurses" in our state. We have certified school nurses (to the tune of a $10,000 certification program), which I would assume would be comparable to a LSN.

I feel that our state is different in that anyone is allowed to be solely in charge of the nurse's office...schools can either have a CSN, an RN (BSN or associates), LPN, CNA, paramedic, high school grad off the street without any medical training, or nothing at all (ie, secretaries take care of everything). The credentials hired is 100% dependent on what the school wants to hire.

For my state, you can only write the health portion of IEPs if you have your CSN (or if you were grandfathered into some IEP course that was given by the state, but I think they did away with that). Also, with your CSN, you're placed on the teacher contract and teacher salary schedule. If you aren't certified, then you are considered support staff and are paid hourly and don't get quite the perks as the teachers do.

Hope this helps a little!!

iggywench, BSN, RN · Mar 3, 2020

I am not a CSN; it's not required, nor would there be any financial incentive for me to get it. I am an RN, and call myself a school nurse. Our district staffs every school with an RN, and we have a director above us. We are on the teacher salary scale.

k1p1ssk, BSN, RN · Mar 3, 2020

No licensing in our state, just certification through the Dept. of Elem. & Secondary Ed. You do this by taking the certification exam through NASN or obtaining a master's degree in a relevant field (I.e. nursing, education, or public health), in addition to a series of classes sponsored through a private university in our state. On top of that, the school district does not need to require certification, though most do from what I understand.

Glitternurse, LVN · Mar 3, 2020

I am an LVN. I am supervised by a certified school nurse with a BSN PHN. I Identify my self as the district LVN, but most refer to me as the school nurse.(the 2 of us cover five k-6 and a pre school totalling around 3000 students). as far as meds, treatments and procedures I do them all independently. I am certified to teach first aid and CPR as well. I have been an LVN for almost 30 years. I have done floor nursing (back in the day when LVNs worked on the floor). urgent care, ambulatory (doctor's office) nursing and home health before I came to the school health clinic 3 years ago. The RN does all the health plans, IEPs and 504s. There are a very few things that she has to do that are out of my scope. For example we have a newly diagnosed diabetic (diagnosed in November) that has PE after lunch. I cannot adjust his insulin, even though I know he will crash after PE. I have to call her and she will tell me how much to decrease his insulin coverage before lunch.

I realize I am not an RN, but I thought I'd give my 2 cents.

BrisketRN, BSN, RN · Mar 3, 2020

I am an RN at a private school on semester 1 of the 2 semester CSN program. CSN isn't required in my state but all of the public schools require it according to their job listings.

LikeTheDeadSea, MSN, RN · Mar 3, 2020

CSN - my state only allows RNs to practice as Staff Nurses under the caseload management of a CSN. $$$ is a huge incentive - CSNs are part of professional contract and RNs are on paraprofessional contract. Depending on the district, a 10k (ish) graduate program to get the CSN is totally worth it, as it can be the difference of 40-70k per year in the long run.

ihavealltheice · Mar 3, 2020

1 minute ago, LikeTheDeadSea said:
CSN - my state only allows RNs to practice as Staff Nurses under the caseload management of a CSN. $$$ is a huge incentive - CSNs are part of professional contract and RNs are on paraprofessional contract. Depending on the district, a 10k (ish) graduate program to get the CSN is totally worth it, as it can be the difference of 40-70k per year in the long run.

I got a $12K raise once I received my CSN! To work in essentially the same capacity that I already was, work less hours in a day (7.25 vs 8 ) AND make more money...it was definitely a no brainier for me!

SchoolNurse91, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2020

In my state, a school nurse is an RN that has a bachelor degree and a teaching certificate. You are not considered a school nurse without all three. I'm the only RN in district. We have two LPNs, too. They can pretty much do what I can, aside from 504, IEPs and IHPs... although we do not do IHPs in our district.

OyWithThePoodles, RN · Mar 4, 2020

I'm not a CSN. It's not required in my state an unfortunately there is no pay incentive in my district. But I AM a school nurse.

CanIcallmymom, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2020

33 minutes ago, OyWithThePoodles said:
I'm not a CSN. It's not required in my state an unfortunately there is no pay incentive in my district. But I AM a school nurse.

same here.