How to become a school nurse in FL?

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Jan 27, 2018

Why not talk to some school districts or look at their websites to see their requirements?

Best wishes to you.

WineRN · Jan 29, 2018

A lot of districts will want you to have some outside nursing experience before taking on this role. School nurses have little to no support and are usually the only medical professionals in the building(s) they serve. You can always get your foot in the door by subbing in a district.

If you are mostly looking at school nursing because of the schedule, there are a few avenues in public health nursing where you can have a "normal" schedule. Home health, medical offices, county heal services, DD services, all offer pretty nice schedules.

Good luck with your studies!

ArryOtter · Jan 29, 2018

I am a School Clinic Nurse in Florida. LPN for now. FL does not require you to have a school nurse cert as an RN, but it is a definite bonus. I am pretty sure my supervising RN has only worked in school health and she seems to still have a great support system, although that will vary with the location of course. Check with your local district and see if they have any agencies they use for subs to get some experience while applying.

kidzcare · Jan 29, 2018

A lot of districts will want you to have some outside nursing experience before taking on this role. School nurses have little to no support and are usually the only medical professionals in the building(s) they serve. You can always get your foot in the door by subbing in a district.

This. School nursing is not a great place for a new nurse. You can learn the skills to assess in school but it needs to be put into practice until the time that it becomes second nature. New nurses should work somewhere where they can bounce ideas off more experienced nurses and learn from their expertise before being the only nurse making the call.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2018

This. School nursing is not a great place for a new nurse. You can learn the skills to assess in school but it needs to be put into practice until the time that it becomes second nature. New nurses should work somewhere where they can bounce ideas off more experienced nurses and learn from their expertise before being the only nurse making the call.

I started in school nursing as a new grad, but I worked as a long term sub alongside a very experienced school nurse in a school district with an office that staffed 2 full time two nurses for ~1350 students. It was like an amazing preceptorship that was worth its weight in gold that made fall in love with this area of nursing.

But even with that, it took me a good 2 years to feel confident in this role. Even then, we all have days where we wish we had another medical professional to collaborate with face-to-face.

Amethya · Jan 30, 2018

Not sure if FL has them, but look around schools for School nurse assistant or clinic assistant, it can help you put your foot in the door.

Windchaser22 · Jan 30, 2018

strongly recommend being an assistant first and/or subbing.

ArryOtter · Jan 31, 2018

I started right out of school as well, but when I was hired there was an RN and another LPN on campus full time as well. Since then we have dropped down to me being the only nurse on campus (we're a small special needs charter, approx 250 kids). My supervising RN has about 5-8 other schools she is over as well. She's always there for more difficult questions/cases, but not available for an immediate presence usually. I wouldn't have wanted to start out alone right out the gate.

ArryOtter · Jan 31, 2018

Also, depending on the district, schools will place non-nurses in clinics of schools, (sometimes as the sole clinic person, and sometimes as a nurse's aid) if there is no diabetics or students who require diastat. That may be something to check in to as well.