How is life as a school nurse

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Hello, my name is Destiny i have a 5 year old daughter. i am currently in college trying to figure out whether or not i should be a teacher or do something in the medical field. I say teacher because of the hours and time off and having the same hours as my daughter while she is in school. But the thought of being a teacher Isn't so appealing. Now the medical field is ehh ok but the hours can change and they're may be days when i get out late. That i cannot do because i have to get my daughter from school. So a friend suggests that i be a school nurse. Sounds pretty great to me. Good hours no stress of a full classroom and school work. But i wanted to hear about your experiences and feedback. Thank you!!

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Specializes in school/military/OR/home health.

Well, the hours are pretty sweet. Time off with my kids is one of the main reasons I keep coming to work. But I also love the work. And, it is WORK. There are days I want to bang my head against the wall. There are days I want to lock myself in my med closet and cry. And yes, there are days I want to give my keys to the secretary and walk out.

It is a great job for a nurse. But I really wouldn't recommend it to a new grad. It requires a lot of nursing judgement, which I did not feel I had really developed until a few solid years of full-time work in a hospital. It is overwhelming when you realize you are the only medical person around, and when that emergency happens, you are IT. Needing certification probably depends on the state. Check with the DOE in your state.

Basically, if the schedule is the main reason you want to do it, I would advise against it.

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Personally, I wouldn't choose a profession based upon the hours or the pay. You need to feel more than "meh" to be a good school nurse.

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Specializes in Home Health,Dialysis, MDS, School Nurse.

School nursing is an excellent job for mom's. However as NurseBeans said, most of us had years of experience in other fields before we landed this job. Not that it can't be done right out of school, it just isn't common. Also, I'm not sure if you are up for moving or not, but school nurse jobs can be hard to find, much less so than a teaching position. The nurse I replaced had been here 17 years! So there is that to think about too.

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Specializes in School Nursing, Pediatrics.

Totally agree with the other posters. And really, you think school nursing is not stressful?....try having several kids throwing up at once, others bleeding, a diabetic with a low sugar, a asthmatic having an attack, and any number of things going on at once.

Also, it is not for new grads, you need experience, most of us have been nurses for a long time (me, 26 years) and have worked in ER's or peds and have dealt with quick decision making and good assessment skills. It's not a picnic like you may think. If you only feel "meh" about going into nursing, then you should NOT become a nurse. It is a lot of work, and you might not even get a school nurse job!

Honestly if you want to work the school hours, why not be a lunch lady or a sub teacher or an aide? Most of those jobs you can do with a degree.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Oncology, School Nursing, OB.

School nursing is very complex and can be very stressful. Most places you need a bachelor's degree plus a school nurse certification. Then you need a few years of experience before they'll hire you. Most nurses are on the sub list for quite a while before they get hired as well. So that's 4 years of school, five years experience (required for our district ), then a couple years on the sub list before an opening so you're looking at several years from now before you would most likely be working as a school nurse. It's not a quick easy fix.

Pretty much any job you're going to work longer hours than your child goes to school. You may need to find help and instead choose whichever job you wouldn't care what the schedule was because you enjoyed it so much.

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Thank you all for your feedback, i will definitely put everything into consideration!

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It sounds like you have not even gone to nursing school yet. You won't be able to choose your hours for nursing school either. Clinical times are what they are and you will likely have to do some morning and some evening clinicals. By the time you are done with nursing school, your daughter may not even be at an age that you need to pick her up.

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Life as a school nurse is generally pretty great. However, life in nursing school is hell. And you HAVE to go through hell to get to the great. This is a career choice and not just a job. It requires countless hours of schooling, testing, and self application to succeed. If you're only "ehh, ok" when it comes to the medical field in general, then you should probably steer clear of all nursing, including school nursing. The hours are GREAT but you're still a medical professional and more often than not, you're the ONLY medical professional and you will have A LOT that you're responsible for, including the lives of minors. Please don't waste your time earning a degree in a field that you're not passionate about. And please don't choose a career simply for the benefit of the schedule. When push comes to shove, you will still be expected to be a nurse. School nursing is more than just an easy schedule. There is still a standard of care that you will be required to have if you want to keep your license you worked so hard for.

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Specializes in Sub-Acute, School Nursing, Dialysis.

Both are a lot of work. From what I here from my teacher friends is that they often take their work home with grading papers and creating lesson plans. And being a teacher or a school nurse can be tough to find a job especially where I live. School nursing is a wonderful job but it won't likely be the first nursing job you get out of nursing school.

I have a few areas of nursing I would love to try and one of the reasons I entered nursing is because I want to work in women's health. I love labor and delivery, antepartum, postpartum. But the hospitals near me require a lot of experience and atleast 1 year on a med-surg. floor before even being considered for an interview. And right out of nursing school, I took whatever job would accept me which was working on a sub acute unit at nights by myself! I did not like one second of it. It can take a really long time to get into the specialty that you want to be in.

And as C.MackeyRN stated, nursing school is complete hell! I used to refer to it as mental boot camp. The professors are tough and strict. One professor said to my class, we are the way we are because we are preparing you to save lives. Good luck with whatever you choose to major in!

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Specializes in Cardiology, School Nursing, General.

I'm a medical assistant, but I work as the only medical aide at my school. I would say that you could try, but in all honestly you have to have the passion and love for these kids. Sure it's awesome because everyone realizes on you and your expertise, and you have time off and you have independent work, so no one bothers you or is behind you all the time, but it's hard because you are the only medical person there and as such, you will have a ton of kids coming in at a time for headaches and other random things. You have to have the patience with all kids, not just the tiny ones. Sometimes I get 6 or more kids in my tiny room and I just want to bang my head and tell them to get out, but some days it's good. Really think about it before you get out of school, I would recommend getting at least a year of experience at a hospital or office before deciding this.

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