I want to be a school nurse...

[Otaybw19]

I have just graduated from high school and am going on to become a nurse. The last semester of my senior year I worked in the nurses office as a nurses aide and I loved it. I was just wanting to know more about school nursing. To those of you who are school nurses, are you an LPN or RN? Should I become an LPN or RN to be a school nurse? Do you get paid during summer break? What are some pros and cons of being a school nurse? Was it difficult finding a job as a school nurse? I know there's quite a few questions but I am just curious and would like some helpful info. Thanks. :)

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

I'm an RN with a BSN and a school nursing certificate. Look into your state's requirements for what you need to be a school nurse, though i'd suggest that you go for RN either way, it gives you a bit more options in nursing.

I do get paid in the summer - but only 2 checks and only because i have money taken out of each paycheck. This varies from district to district.

Pros: Interesting work, good for autonomous nurse, impacting a student's life positively, july, august, snow days!! no working weekends or holidays

cons: don't typically make as much as a hospital nurse, it gets lonely, need to have really good assessment skills and pre hospital emergency skills, need to have a good solid nursing basis, need a "baloney" detector to identify the malingerers, having teachers dump problem students on you, parents that are real PITAs

not difficult for me to find a job, but i kind of hit it right.

[mustlovepoodles, RN]

I have an associates degree in nursing (RN) and a BS in elementary education. I have 34 years RN experience, 25 years in pediatrics (NICU, PICU, ER). I have never had trouble finding a job (probably due to my broad experience) and I have always been paid for the BS even though it's not in nursing. At my last school I got paid during the summer, but in my current school I only get paid for the days I'm actually at work. So summer is pretty lean.

I would also suggest you get your RN just because it is more marketable. Most school systems would rather have an RN than an LPN just because of the more intensive education. You will need to work in a fast-paced environment at least a few years before you go out on your own in a school. School nursing isn't as intensive as hospital nursing, except when it IS. Anything that can happen in a hospital can happen in school. You need a very broad base of knowledge to do the job. The hardest part of school nursing is not having backup. When something goes bad, it's just you and your bandaids until the EMTs get there.

I love being a school nurse. I will never go back to the hospital. At my age, I don't need that fast pace. I love taking care of my little diabetic kids, my special needs kids, my kids with sickle cell, asthma,and heart transplant. I feel needed and appreciated by the staff and administration. And I really feel needed when I have a kid who I suspect has been abused.

The job of a school nurse is to keep kids healthy and in class, and to know when it's not safe to be there. You have to be very assertive with parents and teachers, sometimes. But you're doing it for he well-being of a child, so it's not a burden. Good luck with nursing school. I hope you love it. I sure do(34 years and counting!)